Outlast
by journie19
Summary: The buyer is still out there, and Wu refuses to give up any information. Claire and Owen are drawn to the mysterious Isla Sorna, knowing that it would be the perfect place for InGen's most elusive ally to be lying in wait, ready to continue Project K at the first opportunity. Sequel to Survival, not necessary to read that before this (although it might help).
1. Mine

_AN: Here we are with Outlast, chapter one! I'm thrilled to be writing a sequel, and I'm so thankful to every single one of you guys that wanted a sequel to Survival. You (and God) made this possible for me! Love you all!_

Claire had been curious about Isla Sorna for years. She had forgotten her curiosity somewhat when she had been promoted to park manager six years ago; running Jurassic World had been her top priority. No time to think about anything else. But ever since uncovering Project K, the ever-mysterious Isla Sorna had been running nonstop through Claire's mind.

It was the perfect place for InGen to form an illegal plan, to conduct risky, unauthorized experiments. It had been abandoned since hurricane Clarissa, almost twenty years ago, and InGen technically owned the island anyways. It was just close enough to Isla Nublar that InGen could use Jurassic World's technology, but isolated enough that nobody would dare go near the place. Not with the rumors of wild velociraptors and who-knows-what-else roaming around the island.

Owen agreed with Claire. Isla Sorna had to be explored soon if they wanted to get any leads on the buyer that had proposed Project K to Dr. Wu. The trail had probably gone cold, but rebuilding Jurassic World had taken every bit of Claire and Owen's time over the past year. Owen had new raptors to train, new responsibilities to shoulder, new freedom to explore. He no longer worked for InGen since the company had been shut down; Claire had named him an official high-level Jurassic World employee. He trained raptors simply because he wanted to, not because a company wanted to use them as military-grade weapons.

Claire had executives to meet with on a daily basis, sponsors to impress, staff meetings to conduct. She had numbers to watch, dinosaurs to look after, guests to satisfy. But, like Owen's, Claire's job had changed too. Or, at least, the way she viewed her job had changed. Claire realized she was simply the caretaker of creatures she couldn't begin to explain, or control. And she loved every second of it.

Of course, the year after the InGen scandal hadn't been entirely about work. Claire and Owen had married fast, and both of them knew that it had been the right decision. They had come to the stark realization that neither of them seemed to function as well without the other. They needed each other. Served each other. Loved each other.

And now Jurassic World had been reopened for a month and it was more popular than ever, despite the media rumors of bad security and dinosaur mistreatment. Claire knew her dinosaurs were happy, and after she had asked Owen to do a press conference with her, most reporters had been scared away by his abruptness.

Yet still Project K haunted the both of them. Wu wasn't giving up any information from his high-tech solitary prison cell. He simply sat there and wrote in notebooks all day long, never complaining about anything except the lack of hot tea in the prison. Jurassic World's lawyers had tried everything, even offering to shorten Wu's sentence if he would give up the name, but Wu kept his mouth shut.

So Claire and Owen had decided to do the investigating themselves, starting with Isla Sorna.

…

Claire made her way carefully over the dusty gravel to Paddock 7, hoping to surprise Owen before he headed home. He had been working late into the night recently, what with four new raptors and all. Blue had just started being docile towards them, but only when Owen's eyes were on her. The moment he glanced away, or turned his attention to one of the younger raptors, she would go into aggression mode, hissing and screeching at the intruders until Owen managed to calm her down.

The sharp points of her heels tried to sink into the dirt, but Claire had become the master of walking on soft ground in heels. Claire's trick was to step lightly and put most of her weight on the balls of her feet, keeping the pointy ends of the shoes out of the dirt. Owen thought she was ridiculous, wearing the things around all day, but Claire loved them and she knew that Owen secretly admired her resilience.

She reached the paddock and saw Owen standing on the observation catwalk, facing away from her. He was yelling commands at Blue, who seemed to be disobeying him again, judging by his tone of voice. Claire could hear the high-pitched wails of the four young raptors echo across the now-closed park.

Naming the new raptors had been fun. Claire and Owen had each named two, taking turns until all were christened. There was Lucy, the raptor covered in dark purple zigzags, Josie (short for Josephine; Claire's middle name. Owen had named that one), who appropriately had one straight red streak running down the length of her spine, Lex, the yellow-striped raptor named after John Hammond's granddaughter, and April, who had the darkest scales of any raptor Claire had ever seen. Owen treated them like Claire treated Zach and Gray, and she had enjoyed seeing him work with them, how he trained them as they got older and fiercer, more lethal. He wasn't scared of them, no matter how sharp their teeth were or how long their claws had grown. He simply talked to them, gave them attention, loved them, respected them. It was amazing to see.

Claire slipped into the small office around the back of the paddock, knowing that Owen would stop by there to grab his keys once he was done outside. She slid her compact mirror out of her bag, brushing her hair out of her face and swiping on some lip-gloss, the cherry flavor that drove Owen wild when he kissed her. She heard a loud buzz sound around the paddock, heard the gate slam shut as Owen exited the observation ramp. Her heart began beating a tiny bit faster, anticipating seeing him after a long day.

The office door opened and he stepped in, looking completely exhausted. His clothes were mud-streaked, his hair damp with sweat. Claire didn't mind; in fact, his ruggedness only made him more attractive, rougher somehow. His tired face broke into a wide smile when he saw her, dropping his training equipment to the ground and gathering her up in his arms.

"Hi," he said, ducking down to press his lips against Claire's. Claire, who suddenly felt a bit wild, pulled him closer, pulling at the old leather vest he wore so often. Owen grunted in agreement, lifting her up slightly to set her on the cluttered desk that rested in the corner of the office.

"How was your day?" Claire asked, breathless, her forehead pressed against Owen's.

"Interesting," Owen said, laving at her collarbone. "April snapped at Blue and I almost had a full-blown raptor fight on my hands before Lucy started whining up a storm. She distracted April long enough for me to talk Blue down, but I don't know what I'm going to do if that happens again."

"I'm sure you'll think of something," said Claire, running her hands down her husband's back. "I'm glad there are no security cameras in here."

Owen laughed, burying his head in the crook of Claire's neck. She stroked his hair softly and he leaned into her touch, his breath hitching when she tugged a little on the soft strands under her fingers.

"How's the boss?" he murmured, trailing his fingers lightly along the collar of her shirt. Claire took a moment to answer, trying to make her brain form words.

"I'm good," she stuttered. Owen chuckled softly, his stubble scraping her shoulder. "I want to explore Isla – _Owen_ \- Sorna."

Owen nodded his agreement, too caught up in Claire to bother thinking about Isla Sorna and the buyer. It had been a long day and he'd much rather focus on his wife than on the people that had tried very hard to kill them a year ago.

…

Claire straightened her skirt quickly while Owen searched the office for one of her heels she had kicked off.

"Got it," he said, pulling it out from the very back corner of the room. He brushed the dust off and slipped it on her foot, his hands brushing lightly across her calves. Claire shivered at the contact. Owen gathered the equipment he needed and poked his head outside, making sure all the raptors were in the appropriate cages for the night.

They were starting to walk towards home when Claire heard a shriek sound through the cool night air. Owen sighed and turned back to the raptor cage, his eyes flitting to the clearing under the observation catwalk. "That'll be Lex," he muttered, stalking towards the cage. "Be back in a sec."

Claire nodded, smiling slightly at the lip-gloss marks on the back of his neck. She laughed to herself when she imagined what Lowery would say if he could see Owen smudged with Claire's makeup. Owen opened the gate and spoke gently to the raptors, trying his best to figure out what was making Lex upset. It wasn't Blue; she slept in a different part of the paddock she couldn't get at the new raptors when Owen was gone. Claire couldn't see what Owen did, but he successfully got Lex calmed down long enough for a different, deeper growl to echo across the paddock. Claire recognized that sound, even though she'd only heard it once in the presence of Patrick Hunt.

It was Blue, making her most menacing growl, scratching at the bars of her cage, trying madly to communicate something to Owen. Claire could dimly make out Owen trying to get to Blue, but her growls were provoking the other raptors into defense mode; they turned their backs to Owen, small claws extended, ready to fend off whatever was threatening him. Owen tried to push past them, yelling something to Claire that she couldn't hear over Blue's loud screeches.

Claire's eyes darted all over the dark, dusty area surrounding Paddock 7, searching for whatever was setting the velociraptors off. Owen called to her desperately, trying unsuccessfully to get around his raptors. Josie turned and hissed at him, snapping her teeth brashly.

Claire turned around too late, finally seeing what was causing such a commotion. A stray maintenance man, carrying a heavy looking broom and a rope. "Get out of here!" Claire said, pointing to the raptor paddock. Blue sank her claws deep into the steel bars of her cage. Claire vaguely wondered if the new cage had been reinforced yet; velociraptors were both strong enough and smart enough to escape if they wanted to. Owen spoke to Blue calmly but in a commanding tone, telling her to do something that Claire couldn't hear. The maintenance man didn't move and simply stared intently at Claire, like he was trying very hard to think. "Hey!" Claire called to him. "You're making the raptors crazy! Get away before they hurt anyone."

The maintenance man tilted his head and hefted his broom. "Nah," he said, his voice a deep, intimidating rumble. He swung the broom handle at Claire, who ducked and heard the sound of steel bending, twisting, being forced to move. She rolled out of the way of the man, who slammed his broom into the gravel. Claire heard Blue screech and Owen yell, telling Blue to _protect_. The maintenance man cursed and Claire scrambled to her feet, only to be knocked in the head by the thick wooden handle of the broom. She collapsed, trying to make her legs work, to make herself crawl away. She heard Blue's claws scraping against the ground; she must've busted out of her cage.

"Mine," the man said, hoisting Claire up and running to a car she couldn't see with the stars swirling around her vision. Claire felt herself being slung across a hard leather seat, heard a door slam. She felt the car move just as her consciousness faded away, just as Blue reached the spot where the car had been.

 _AN: And so the ball starts rolling. Like, right now. We have a kidnapped Claire, four new raptors, a loose Blue, an alone Owen, and a mysterious kidnapper/broom wielder of an OC._

 _Review! New chapter up tomorrow (the 25_ _th_ _)._


	2. Edge

_AN: This fic is more mysterious, wilder than Survival because I have an entire [mostly] abandoned island to explore. I'm so excited! Thank you everyone for your response to the last chapter; it made me happier than you can even imagine._

"Go, Blue! Protect Claire," Owen yelled, his eyes darting to Blue's secluded cage on the very edge of Paddock 7. He felt a rush of pride when he heard the loud, heart-stopping creak of steel breaking as Blue scratched her way to freedom. He dimly saw her run towards the tall shadow that was the maintenance man, who was shoving the now-limp body that was Owen's wife into the backseat of a new Jeep. His body felt tight, rigid as a board from fear, but Owen was good at thinking rationally in a crisis, and right now, his first concern was getting out of the cage alive. Blue had Claire. Owen had to get out.

He took a cautious step forward to gauge how the young raptors reacted to his movement. It wasn't received well. All four of them moved closer to him, with claws outstretched, trying to protect him but not being able to grasp the situation fully. Their efforts to prevent harm from coming to Owen were causing more harm to come to Claire. Owen flinched when he heard the Jeep start, heard it drive away, but he didn't break eye contact with his raptors. He had to remain dominant, and maintaining eye contact was key.

"Easy, April," Owen said, his voice calm and steady; the complete opposite of how he was feeling. "Let me through."

April screeched and thumped her tail on the ground, swiping her claws at Owen, who dodged the swing but stood his ground, refusing to take a step backwards.

"Don't start with me, April," Owen said, his tone rougher than it had been a moment before. "Let me by."

Lucy clicked her tongue, unsure of what to do. Josie and Lex stood behind April, looking at Owen curiously, like they couldn't quite understand what he was saying. April screeched at him furiously, her dark scales glinting in the starlight.

Owen spoke softly to Lex and Josie, the calmest of the new raptors, knowing they would listen to him without question. He told them to back up, and they did, much to the disappointment of April. Lucy was next, reluctantly moving to stand beside her other pack members when Owen asked her to. "See, April," Owen said, holding his hand forward in a gesture of trust. "You aren't alpha here, or even beta. Those positions belong to me and to Blue, and you need to _get out of the way_."

April hissed angrily but stepped aside, glaring at Owen.

"Good," said Owen, walking backwards towards the gate. He slipped his hand through the bars to press the door release, the buzzer a loud and obnoxious noise in the cool nighttime air. He slid the gate shut and locked it before sprinting off after the Jeep, following both its tire tracks and Blue's footprints.

"Where are they taking you?" he muttered a few minutes later, now realizing that the Jeep was headed for the very edge of Isla Nublar, which was, other than Paddock 9, the most dangerous part of the island. The rocks were big and jagged there, the waves rough and unforgiving. A man could die in a second out there if they weren't careful.

Owen shook his head forcefully at the thought, trying to convince himself that whomever had Claire didn't want to kill her. No. She _had_ to be alive.

…

It wasn't long before Owen reached the wild edge of Isla Nublar, covered in sweat and out of breath. He spotted the Jeep immediately, the metal scratched and the tires flat, courtesy of Blue. The Jeep was obviously empty, but Owen looked inside anyways, almost laughing with relief when he saw that there was no blood anywhere on the seats.

He whistled sharply, the sound almost masked completely by the waves crashing against the tall rocks behind him. Blue materialized by Owen's side before he could blink, her scales caked with mud and sand. "Where'd they take her, girl?" Owen asked gently, brushing some of the dirt off her flank. Blue nudged her head towards the water that surrounded Isla Nublar, to Isla Sorna off in the distance. Owen ran as close to the water as he could get, his eyes scouring the waves for any sign of a boat. He thought he saw a light in the distance, thought he heard just the faintest sound of a motor, but he couldn't be sure.

Owen sank to the damp ground, thinking back to an hour ago, when he'd kissed Claire in his office.

"She's been kidnapped," he groaned, his face in his hands. "My wife's been kidnapped."

…

Claire woke to someone whispering words of comfort into her ear and stroking her hair softly. She felt odd, off somehow. She was nauseated and her head ached where it had been hit by something. What had she been hit by?

Claire groaned when yesterday's events came rushing back to her, sitting up abruptly and knocking away whoever was touching her. Her eyes shot open and Claire had a few moments to see the room she was being held in before she slumped back down again, retching violently.

Claire heard a woman's sympathetic, quiet laugh come from somewhere behind her and suddenly there was a trashcan in front of her. Claire took it gratefully, clutching the waste bin tightly as she threw up yesterday's lunch into it. She felt fingers grasp at her hair, pulling it out of reach. Claire jerked away, running a sweaty hand through her bangs, refusing to let anyone touch her.

"I've got you," the woman said, pushing Claire's hand away. "Nobody's going to hurt you."

Claire laughed shakily. "You'll kidnap me but you won't hurt me?"

"Let me correct myself. _I_ won't hurt you. Wayne will, if he's asked to, but I don't think you have to worry about that just yet."

"Who's Wayne?" Claire asked. "And where am I?"

"Wayne brought you here, Claire. Isla Sorna."

Claire felt like someone was pouring ice water down her back. She _knew_ Isla Sorna needed to be investigated. "Is Wayne dangerous?"

"Only if he needs to be. I'm Helen, by the way. Helen Drew. Your fellow captive."

Claire sat up straight, spots dancing in her eyes. "They took you too?" Helen was a small woman, about Lowery's age, with long, tangled brown hair running down her back and the warmest coffee-colored eyes Claire had ever seen. She could tell by just one glance that Helen wasn't one of the bad guys. Claire didn't trust her, but she wasn't someone to be scared of.

Helen laughed again. "They get everyone who gets too close to uncovering a secret. They've wanted to get you for a long time, Claire, but they waited over a year before making a move. I don't know why."

"How do you know my name?"

"I listen when they talk," said Helen simply, gesturing to a small earpiece microphone lying on the floor. "The whole place is bugged by the boss, but they don't know I swiped this off of them my first night here. I've been eavesdropping on every conversation they've had for eighteen months."

"Eighteen months?" said Claire, her stomach twisting sickeningly again. Helen had been here _eighteen months?_

Helen shrugged. "That's the problem when you're an orphan and a freelance journalist. Nobody notices it when you go missing."

 _Owen_ , thought Claire. Owen knew she was missing. "Was I the only one brought here?" Claire twisted her wedding band nervously around her finger, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Helen.

"You mean, did they get your husband?"

Claire nodded weakly as another bought of nausea swept through her. She hadn't felt this sick in ages; Claire could only assume it came from the knot on her forehead. She could've been hit hard enough to cause a concussion, which would at least explain the vomiting.

"No, only you. Although Wayne did complain about a velociraptor following his Jeep all the way to the edge of Isla Nublar. He said he had a time getting you onto the boat without being ripped to shreds.

Claire smiled grimly. So they hadn't gotten Owen. He'd come after her, she knew. "What's going to happen to me?" Claire looked around at the room where he was being held, and she couldn't completely force away the fear that was flitting about at the edge of her thoughts. Knives, guns, ACU's electric spears, and even what looked like a collection of velociraptor claws were strapped to the walls; every inch of the room was covered in some weapon or other. "What is this place?"

"A house, I suppose," answered Helen, looking bleakly at the weapon-lined walls. "I've never been out of this room before."

Claire spotted a knife that looked suspiciously like the one Patrick Hunt had used on Owen a year ago. It had the same jagged edge, the same brown handle. Blood the color of rust decorated the blunt steel of the blade and Claire felt a simultaneous rush of anger and panic at the memory of Owen collapsing in pain just outside of Dr. Wu's tent, the skin on his legs broken and bleeding.

"They won't torture you," said Helen, following Claire's gaze at the knife. "Not if you do what they ask you to do."

"Who are _they_?" asked Claire.

Helen shrugged. "They call the biggest man the boss. He calls the shots, tells everyone else what to do. Adam is second in command, but that used to be Hunt until he died. Wayne does the hard stuff because he always does whatever the boss asks him to, a girl named Bridgette used to deal with anything and everything technological, but I haven't heard her name is months, Hoskins used to come around but he died too, and a calm guy named Dr. Wu comes around from time to time, but he's in jail now."

Claire sat silently, processing everything Helen had just told her. If Helen was telling the truth, then the last remaining members of InGen had kidnapped them. "Have you heard of Project K?" Claire whispered, scooting closer to Helen.

Helen nodded slowly, eyeing the closed door in the back corner of the room. "That's why I'm here, that's why you're here. We know too much."

"I shut it down," said Claire quietly, remembering vividly the sounds of dinosaurs fighting to the death. "We killed Hunt. Arrested Wu and Bridgette."

"You may have gotten rid of those three people," said Helen, "but you have no idea how huge this is. This isn't just InGen, Claire."

"Then who is it?" asked Claire anxiously.

Helen started to answer but shut her mouth immediately when the door flew open and a man walked in, stepping over to Claire and yanking her up by her hair. Claire bit the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted blood, but she didn't make a sound, something Owen had taught her. Don't let them know they're causing you pain. Let them think you're stronger than you are. It's a good bluff.

"Wayne," Helen protested, grasping at Claire. "Let her go."

"No," grunted Wayne. "Boss wants her."

Helen's eyes widened, but she didn't argue. Claire let herself be dragged out of the room, wondering exactly who _Boss_ was.

 _AN: I hope this is good. I had a hard time with this chapter for some reason, but I'm still very excited! More tomorrow (the 26_ _th_ _, for all you out-of-country followers!)_

 _Love all of you! Review!_


	3. Wit

_AN: Chapter 3, woohoo! We have Lowery and Boss in this chapter. And thanks especially to Caitlynnnn for fixing my errors and to BluIcy for her review on chapter 1 (and 2). She doesn't know this, but her thoughts on Owen's reaction inspired his entire POV section this chapter. Thanks, you two!_

Owen gave himself five minutes. Five minutes to be crushed by fear, worry, guilt, and everything other emotion that threatened him. When time was up, he pushed those thoughts as far away as he could; worrying wasn't going to help Claire. Getting up and _doing_ something. That was going to help her.

Owen whipped out his cellphone and dialed a number, not caring that it was late at night and he was probably asleep. "Lowery," said Owen when the call went through. There was no answer for a moment and Owen checked the phone to make sure that he'd called the right number. "Lowery!"

Owen heard a sleepy groan on the line. "Dude. Do you know what time it is? This better be good."

Owen grunted and slid into the abandoned, scratched Jeep that Claire's kidnapper had left behind. Judging by the deep ruts in the sand on the beach of Isla Nublar, Claire had been taken away via boat. He could see Isla Sorna looming in the distance, dark and isolated. Owen yanked up the floor mats, trailing his hands along the dark interior of the Jeep, looking for the keys. Blue stood still as a statue behind him, waiting for Owen to give her an order.

"Owen," said Lowery. "What do you need?"

Owen switched the call over to speakerphone, prying at the smooth panel under the steering wheel. The keys weren't in the car, and he wasn't going to bother looking outside for them. He'd hotwired a couple of cars before; this Jeep wouldn't be any different. "Claire's been kidnapped."

"What?" said Lowery, the last vestiges of sleep leaving his voice. Owen popped off the plastic covering he'd been pulling at, exposing a tangle of brightly colored wires underneath. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said," said Owen impatiently, slicing a vivid yellow wire in half with his knife. He explained everything to Lowery, the man with the broom, how Owen guessed Claire was being taken to Isla Sorna, how he planned to go after her. He heard Lowery rustling around in the background, muttering curses under his breath as he looked for his glasses.

"What do we do?" Lowery questioned, his anxiety obvious.

"I don't know," said Owen heavily, pulling a red wire towards him. "I hope this works," he murmured, touching the tip of the yellow wire to the red one. A spark, small but bright, shot upwards in between the wires and the engine came to life, its roar muffled by the sound of the sea.

"What was that? I'm coming to work. Do I need to bring anything? The police, perhaps?"

"It was a car," said Owen. "Don't call the police yet. Let me get back to Paddock 7 first."

"What does Paddock 7 have to do with anything?"

"They took her to Isla Sorna, Lowery. I'm going to follow them, but I can't go alone," said Owen, glancing at Blue. Her eyes flashed in the darkness, her tail flicking to tell him she was ready to do anything. Owen nodded at her and she ran ahead, back towards her cage. Owen slid into the Jeep and followed her, his heart thumping madly in his chest.

He was beginning to form a tentative plan, knowing that he'd need help if he intended to go to Isla Sorna to find Claire. There were rumors of wild velociraptors there; supposedly they dominated the island. Well, Owen had a few velociraptors of his own, but they were trained on top of being ferocious.

If the rumors were true, Owen wanted his raptors there with him.

He drove after Blue, keeping Lowery on speakerphone the entire way. Owen didn't realize how angry he was until he felt the steering wheel shaking because he was gripping it so hard.

His mind was on overdrive, replaying Claire's kidnapping over and over again. If Lex hadn't screeched, hadn't torn his attention away from Claire for just a moment, then none of this would have happened. If Owen had heard Blue's warning growl just a second earlier, than maybe he could've gotten out of the cage before April went into defensive mode and all the other raptors followed her lead. _If only, if only, if only_. Three hours ago, everything had been fine. Now she was gone.

But Owen wasn't one to dwell on what _could've_ happened. He saw a problem, he figured out how to fix it. And right now, the quickest way to find Claire wasn't to wait on the police to conduct an "official investigation". It was for him and his girls to get over to Isla Sorna before the trail went cold. That's all. Just follow the trail.

"I'm here," said Lowery, his voice startling Owen out of his thoughts; he'd forgotten about him. "And please call off Blue. She's currently trying her very best to scratch through my car doors. You owe me a new paint job when we get out of this."

Owen forced a laugh. Lowery cracked jokes when he was scared. "She won't kill you. She might gravely injure you, but she won't kill you. Not unless I tell her to."

"Oh, thank goodness for _that_ ," said Lowery.

Owen saw the lights of the raptor paddock in the distance, heard the sound of claws-against-metal as Blue scraped at Lowery's car. He pulled up beside Lowery's car, gravel skidding everywhere, just like it had a year ago when Hoskins had wanted to use Blue, Echo, Delta and Charlie to hunt the Indominus and Owen had punched him in the face. Owen almost smiled at the memory; compared to now, that seemed like such a simple issue.

Owen didn't even have to shout Blue's name to get her to stop ruining Lowery's car's paint job. She stopped scratching at the car the second Owen moved to stand beside her, staring at her reproachfully. "Get back," he said in a clear tone, pointing to a spot some fifty feet behind him. Blue did without hesitation, eyeing Lowery warily. Owen smiled inwardly, a rush of pride in Blue shooting through him. A year ago, he would've had trouble getting her to listen to him. Now, she read his body language so well that she understood what he was going to say before he said it.

They were the perfect team.

…

Claire didn't struggle against Wayne but held herself upright as best she could while being half-dragged out of her room. She noticed something she hadn't seen before on the way out: a small, plain air vent, presumably leading under the house. Wayne pulled her outside of the room, slamming the door behind him. Claire took the opportunity to make a mental map of the building. The room where she and Helen were held was at the end of a long hallway; there were no windows that she could see, no outlets to the outside world. The hall curved to the left, the fluorescent lights getting progressively dimmer the farther they went.

Claire was thankful that she felt less sick now; her stomach was no longer rolling as it had been earlier. Her head still throbbed where she'd been hit, but that was manageable. Now, for a plan.

How to get out? Helen had obviously not tried; she only listened, observed her captors and learned their routines. Claire could use that to her advantage; Helen would probably know when they were least guarded.

"Don't get any ideas," said Wayne. Claire tried to tilt her head upwards to get a good look at him, but he was gripping her too tightly. "Even if you get outside of this house, you'd be eaten in half a second. This island isn't safe."

Claire didn't respond. Wayne had guessed what she was up to without even asking; there was no point in trying to deny she was going to try to get out. But he had involuntarily given up their location. Helen had said they were on Isla Sorna, and Wayne's comment about getting eaten proved Helen right. Isla Sorna was wild. An untamed breeding ground that had been abandoned too long.

"Here we are," said Wayne, jerking Claire sharply upwards. Claire stared at the empty stretch of wall in front of her, unsure of what to do for a moment, until Wayne slid his hand across the wall and suddenly a draft floated across her face as the wall melted away, forming a square hole leading into a pitch black tunnel. Wayne shoved Claire forwards into the dark stone passageway, her unsteady footsteps echoing loudly. "Boss," said Wayne, glancing at Claire with the faintest amount of sympathy in his eyes. He tapped the edge of the hole and the wall slid soundlessly back into place, submerging Claire into complete darkness.

"What?" Claire murmured, backing against the rough stone wall, trying to find some sort of stability. She half expected it to fall away under her weight after seeing it disappear and reappear so easily. She wondered what else InGen experimented on besides dinosaurs; obviously they had technology that nobody else in the world had developed.

"Yes, we are quite advanced, aren't we?" said a voice, making Claire jump. She pressed herself hard against the wall at her back, her eyes scouring the darkness for the source of the voice. She hadn't realized she'd been speaking aloud about InGen's technology. "This is my tunnel," said the voice, "and I am Boss."

 _Good for you_ , thought Claire in a tone that sounded distinctly Owen-ish. Why didn't Boss want to show his face? He'd chosen to talk to her in complete darkness for a reason. Would Claire recognize him if she could see him? His voice _did_ sound vaguely familiar; she'd heard this man speak before.

"What do you know about us?" asked Boss. Claire heard him take a step forward and she wished she could _see_. He could be two inches away from her for all she knew.

"Nothing," answered Claire truthfully. "I know you kidnapped me."

Boss laughed softly. "Yes, we did do that. How do you think tour theme park will run without you? Workplaces never seem to run as smoothly when the boss is out of town."

 _Narcissist,_ thought Claire. _He's a narcissist_.

"Take Project K, for example," said Boss. Claire could hear him pacing through the tunnel. She hoped he'd take one step too far and smash himself against the wall. "I go into hiding for two months, _two months_ , and I emerge to a shutdown InGen and a dead Patrick Hunt. You killed my second-in-command!"

"He tried to kill us," defended Claire.

"Yeah, well," said Boss, his voice sounding a lot closer than it had a moment ago. Claire felt warm breath wash across her face and suddenly she felt sick again, weak, like her blood sugar had gone down too quickly. "Hunt liked killing things."

"Yes, he did," agreed Claire, blinking the stars out of her eyes. "Why am I here?"

"Not telling you," said Boss. "But you're going to give me a truthful answer to every question I ask you, aren't you?"

Claire exhaled sharply. She flinched when the hand smacked her right cheek, hard and unforgiving.

"I _said_ you were going to truthfully answer every question I ask you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Claire breathed. "I understand."

"Good," said Boss happily. "Because I'm not letting you out of this tunnel until you do, so if you ever want to see daylight again, you had better speak up."

 _Owen_ , thought Claire. _I need you_.

Claire was in for a battle of wits, and she knew she had to win. She had to outlast the competition.

 _AN: So, Owen's POV ended up being a LOT longer than I had initially expected, but once I got started writing him, I couldn't stop! I just love the guy, and he's so…I don't even know. I love exploring his character. Or, at least, my version of his character._

 _Review! And see you tomorrow (the 27_ _th_ _)._


	4. Stalk

_AN: Hey, guys! Please don't hate me. I know it's been three days, but I've been at orientation (go Carolina!-UNC Chapel Hill, that is) and I really did plan on updating the 27_ _th_ _but I was so busy (and lazy…oops) that I didn't, but here you are! I wrote this on the way home on my phone just for you guys! Special thanks to Caitlynnnn for checking up on me and for suggesting most of this chapter to me. You are the best!_

Owen thought he was okay. He thought he could handle this.

He couldn't.

He walked quickly to his office, ignoring the questioning stares of Blue and Lowery. He had to get somewhere. Had to calm himself down. His brain seemed to be processing everything at an abnormally slow rate, so focused was he on getting Claire back. His allotted five minutes of worry hadn't been enough; he was falling apart. If Owen wasn't careful, he'd go into shock and then he really _wouldn't_ be able to help Claire.

He stepped into the dark office, shutting the door quickly behind him. He made to step towards his desk chair but found that his legs didn't work quite right and instead sank to the floor, shaking and crying and trying his hardest to stay out of that dark place where his thoughts ran wild and caused panic. Owen imagined what Claire would do if she were here. She'd pull him close to her, nestle his head against her chest, twist her hands in his hair. She'd tell him he could do anything and that she would be fine. Owen smiled slightly, despite his worry. Claire was a fierce little thing. Strong.

But what were they doing to her? Why did they take her? Who kidnapped her? More importantly, how could Owen find her without alerting her captors?

Was Claire even still alive?

 _No_ , thought Owen, shaking his head forcefully. He wiped his face, clearing away the sweat and dirt and tears that covered him, telling himself firmly that Claire was alive. She was okay. She had to be.

Steeling himself, Owen stood up and flipped on the lights, turning to the cluster of papers and notes on his desk. Claire had tried several times to organize it, but Owen didn't mind the mess and it always seemed to re-clutter itself no matter how neat she attempted to make it. Owen dug around for a bit, searching for the oldest, most worn map of them all. John Hammond himself had drawn it when he explored the Five Deaths island chain, searching for the perfect place to house his dinosaurs. He'd scouted out all of the islands in the chain, sketching their landscape, drawing mountains and pathways in exquisite detail. The two islands Hammond had seemed most interested in were Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna; he'd eventually picked Isla Nublar as the home for Jurassic Park (eventually Jurassic World), leaving Isla Sorna to InGen.

Isla Sorna had turned into a breeding ground over the years. Owen had to give Hammond credit; it was a good idea, having a whole island dedicated to the science labs. But InGen, like always, had taken advantage of their freedom. Combine a sneaky company with a hurricane and some overlooked velociraptor eggs and what happened?

"They're crazy," Owen muttered, studying the hand-drawn map before him. Isla Sorna had been abandoned too long; it was no-man's land now.

There was a knock on the door, cautious and quiet. Lowery. Owen let him in, hoping that the redness had faded from his eyes. Lowery had a white, shell-shocked look about him, like he'd just seen someone die. "So, Owen," he said, his normally light and humorous voice sounding shaky, "what's the plan?"

Owen supposed Lowery was like him. It took him a while to process shock, but when he did, it was so strong that it nearly knocked him off his feet. Owen showed Lowery the map, telling him the history about Isla Sorna and InGen, which Lowery probably already knew but he listened anyways, nodding quietly and tapping his fingers nervously against his side. "You can't go alone," Lowery said once Owen was done explaining.

"No," Owen agreed, gesturing to Blue and the other raptors in their cage. "They're coming with me."

Lowery grinned. "The raptor squad. Sounds like a weird children's book."

Owen gave a short laugh to make Lowery feel better. "You have to stay here, you know."

"I know," he said. "I won't let anybody take over the park, don't worry. And I'll cover for you and Claire. I'll say you and Claire took the raptors away for a training exercise or something. Nobody will ask questions. They're all too afraid Claire would fire them if they did."

Owen twisted his wedding band, almost laughing for real this time. Claire _hated_ people digging into her personal life, and every single Jurassic World employee (excluding Lowery and Barry and a few others) seemed to have made it their main goal to catch Claire and Owen making out in a supply closet, which, admittedly, did happen quite frequently. Something about Claire being in charge of everyone, being the boss, just _got_ to Owen and he couldn't help himself; supply closets were often convenient, secluded places. Anyways, several interns had been spying on each of them, trying to catch them together. Claire had found out and threatened each of the interns within an inch of their jobs. Funnily enough, no interns had followed them around since.

"Take this," Lowery said, shoving something into Owen's hand, forcing him out of his memories. It was a long-range walkie-talkie and a backpack full of supplies: food, water, a flashlight, even a small, folded up hammock.

Owen felt strangely light and couldn't stop himself from clapping Lowery on the back, nodding once at him to show his appreciation.

…

The raptors didn't like the boat. Blue hissed quietly the whole time, glaring at Owen, wondering why he'd put her on this thing that kept rocking. Owen had apologized to her, stroking her head just the way she liked. Blue had snapped her teeth once at him and looked away pointedly. Owen informed her that she was acting more like a prissy cat than a velociraptor, but Blue had only huffed. The other raptors ran around deck while Owen tried to keep an eye on them as best he could while keeping the Jurassic World-owned motorboat on the right course. He broke up a fight between April (who was becoming more temperamental every day) and Lucy (the gentlest of them all) early on in the voyage, an underlying feeling of worry beginning to build in his chest.

Blue, he wasn't worried about. She'd stick with him whether he wanted her to or not. Lex, Lucy, April and Josie, however, were neither as old as Blue nor as close to Owen. True, they had protected him when the kidnapper took Claire, but would they run away when they were free on the island, when they smelled the blood of their wilder siblings?

Owen prayed they wouldn't.

He had a jacket of Claire's with him for the raptors to catch her scent. Blue seemed to smell something already; she was standing with her knees bent and her head bowed, ready to run. Owen steered the boat in silence, his walkie-talkie in hand in case Lowery needed to talk, the moon reflecting the dark shadow of Isla Sorna clearly in the water.

…

Owen planned on hunting Claire the same way he had hunted the Indominus Rex. This was a game of hide-and-seek. Nothing more. He had Claire's favorite coat for Blue at the other raptors to sniff; Lex in particular had a very strong sense of smell. He wasn't worried too much about them or the boat being seen; obviously there weren't many of these people, if they had only sent one person to kidnap Claire. If there were more of them, Owen assumed they would have sent at least one other person to help; one guy could be taken out so easily, something Owen had learned time and time again in the Navy.

Owen tied the small boat to a weatherworn dock that looked seconds away from collapsing into the shore. All five of them stood in a circle, surrounding Owen, waiting for an order. April was digging her claws into the sand impatiently; Josie stared straight ahead, ready for the task. Blue tilted her head at Owen, seemingly knowing already what to do, where to go, whom to find. Owen held Claire's jacket to Blue first, passing it around from raptor to raptor after her, each of them getting a good whiff.

"This isn't for the kill," said Owen, almost shouting to be heard over the sea. "We want to find her. Got it? _Find_ her. You know that command, Lucy. Don't look at me like that. Ready, Blue?"

Owen could have sworn he saw Blue nod before she turned around, the other raptors falling into position behind her. "Take this slow," said Owen. "There are plenty of animals in this jungle. No point in drawing unwanted attention to ourselves. _Slow_."

He moved into position, slightly in front of Blue, reminding the others that he was the alpha; he was leading this expedition, even if technically Owen was following them to the target instead of the other way around. Blue turned her head sideways, checking to see if Owen was ready. He nodded at her and she set off, trotting briskly into the woods, going just slow enough for Owen to keep up with her. She didn't screech like she usually did when she started a hunt, which either meant she could smell a predator and didn't want to reveal her position, or Claire was close.

Owen sincerely hoped it was the second option. The reality that, if he got seriously injured, there would be no Claire to stitch him up this time ran prevalent through Owen's mind. Maybe his raptors trusted him, but if he got hurt, he'd go from pack leader to a very tasty chunk of meat.

Owen's fears were realized when, deep into the woods, he heard Blue's quiet warning hiss. The other raptors responded with hisses of their own, stopping in the middle of their hunt to face whatever was pursuing them. The younger raptors glanced nervously at Owen; this had never happened in a game of hide-and-seek before. They usually just scoped out the target; never had they been attacked.

Blue, however, had been through a heck of a lot more than her siblings and she stood ready, peering through the woods, her eyes scanning the thick undergrowth.

"What do you see?" Owen asked her, following her gaze. He looked for the telltale glow of a reptile's eyes, every single rumor of Isla Sorna running through his mind. Blue flicked her tail at Josie, who moved to stand in front of Owen. Lex stepped forward as well, her nostrils flaring. She smelled something.

She clicked her tongue at Blue, communicating in the way that only velociraptors could. Blue spoke back, glancing at Owen once before turning back to Lex. They started walking again, faster this time, more urgent. Owen jogged to keep up, thankful that he'd grabbed a gun before coming to Isla Sorna.

He knew what was happening. This wasn't a game of hide-and-seek anymore. They were being stalked.

 _AN: This chapter is very Owen-centric, as you probably noticed. Claire's POV tomorrow (because we are indeed back to daily update for as long as I can manage them!) and check the recent Jurassic World fanfics for a one-shot that I wrote the other day (on the way to orientation- I got an idea and had to write it). It's separate from both Survival and Outlast, but I'm rather excited about it and it's called Favor (and there will be lots and lots of Claire/Owen love)._

 _See you tomorrow! (the 31_ _st_ _)_


	5. Mastermind

_AN: Thank you to the person who alerted me to the user on Wattpad that has decided to copy and paste Survival onto their account, claiming it as their own. That user is not me, I don't know who that is, and I'm so mad about it that I'm actually shaking. The username for the person is epicpenguin_cr (whom I'd be happy to talk to if they want to message me), so know that he or she is not me! I own the plots to my stories, I own my versions of Claire, Owen, and Lowery (though not the original characters themselves), and my OCs. Please do not claim anything I write as your own._

Claire hated not being able to see. She could only imagine what Boss looked like, and her imagination wasn't treating her kindly. His gravelly voice seemed to come from somewhere above her, so Claire knew he was taller than she. She could hear him pacing up and down the tunnel lightly; all his fury from seconds before seemed to have evaporated.

"Why did you bring me here?" Claire asked, clutching the wall behind her to keep herself steady. She felt strange, woozy, unsteady. The complete darkness around her wasn't helping; there was nothing for Claire to latch her eyesight on. No stability.

Claire closed her eyes. _Owen_. _Think of Owen_. He was steady.

"How's the park?" asked Boss, ignoring Claire's question. "How are the new scientists?"

Claire furrowed her brow. "Why did you bring me here?" She wasn't going to answer Boss. Not until she figured out what he really wanted to know, what his motives were. If he'd kidnapped her because she knew too much about Project K, like Helen had said, then why hadn't Owen been taken too? And Lowery? They knew as much as she did. There was something else here, something beyond Project K, beyond everything Claire had discovered last year.

This, like Helen had said, was huge. It had to be more than InGen's side projects. So what was Boss the boss of? Not InGen- InGen was dead. Helen's words came to mind: _You have no idea how huge this is. This isn't just InGen, Claire_.

So what was it?

"Who do you work for?" said Claire.

Boss laughed. "Does my name give you any indication? Myself, Claire. I work for myself. And remember your promise. You said you'd answer my questions; I said nothing about answering yours."

Claire sighed. "The park is good. We've had very good press coverage since reopening, and we dropped all of our sub-companies. Jurassic World is its own business now since Mr. Masrani died; we are completely self-sufficient." Claire couldn't help the little note of pride that slipped into her words when she spoke of the park; she was extremely satisfied with their rebuild. She didn't have to worry about any other company taking over when things got rough. Claire had complete authority over everything that happened in her park, and she intended to keep it that way.

"That's more like it," said Boss. "And Project K?"

"Shut down," replied Claire. "I assume you know that."

"I do," said Boss. "Or, at least, I know you _think_ that Project K is shut down. And it is, for the most part. The robotics part."

"And the basis of the project? Using the dinosaurs as weapons?"

"Now you've hit on it," said Boss. "That's why we're here. That's why _you_ are here."

"And Helen?"

Boss started to answer, and then stopped himself. "Her reason for being here is…classified."

Claire rolled her eyes at Boss even though he couldn't see, imagining what Owen would say if he were in her situation. "The last time someone told me something was classified, a dinosaur got out of its cage and several people got killed."

"Yeah, well," said Boss. "It happens."

"It shouldn't." said Claire. "You say I'm here because you want to use dinosaurs as weapons, but I shut down Project K. I don't have anything to do with this. And you don't have a way to get to our dinosaurs anymore. Our scientists work only for Jurassic World. There will be no more betrayals from any of our workers if I can help it."

"That's the thing," said Boss. "We don't need your scientists, Claire. Do you know where you are?"

"Isla Sorna," answered Claire, scratching nervously at the wall behind her.

"Exactly," said Boss. "An untamed breeding ground for the smartest dinosaurs in the world. The velociraptors here are _already_ weapons. We don't need robotics or technology, anymore. We just need instinct."

Claire took a deep breath, trying to grasp what Boss was saying. Everyone knew about Isla Sorna's wild raptors; that was no secret. But they would kill anyone who approached them in a heartbeat; that's why they were still on the island. How could Boss intend to use them as weapons when there was every chance they would kill people they were intended to protect?

"If we could hone them, use their instinct to our advantage, imagine the possibilities," said Boss, now sounding very excited. "I tried the robotics thing, and it didn't work. Your husband tried the training thing, and now he's got a pack of tame raptors that are so predictable, anyone could kill them without blinking an eye. But _untrained_ , wild velociraptors that have lived on an abandoned island for twenty years? They would exhibit behavior so close to how they acted 65 million years ago that they might as well be the same. I'm never going to get another chance like this."

"So you're the buyer?" asked Claire, flashing back to Hunt's prideful confession that someone wanted to buy InGen's, as Lowery called them, "parasitosaurs".

"Of course," said Boss. "I came up with all of this, and I don't care if people know. Wu wanted to keep me hidden, refused to let people know my identity. I disagree. I am Boss, and people are going to know." Boss's voice seemed to be getting fainter, like he was getting farther away from her with every word he spoke.

Claire took an uneasy step forward, unsure of where she was stepping, trying to follow Boss down the tunnel. He was the mastermind behind all this. She couldn't let him simply slip outside.

"Bye, Claire. I'm sure you can get out of here yourself. All you need is a little _light_." Claire saw, for the smallest amount of time, the tunnel illuminated by the tiniest sliver of light and a big shadow slipping through a door before it slid shut with a faint _chink_ , once again submerging her into darkness.

…

Owen had never been stalked by a pack of wild velociraptors before. The sensation made him feel a bit sorry for the pigs they used in pack-training exercises with his raptors. It was an uneasy feeling, one that made all the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. He new they were surrounded, but he couldn't see any dinosaurs other than his own; their scales blended in too well with the undergrowth and the lack of sunlight wasn't helping matters.

He could, however, hear them. They were snapping twigs, knocking through branches in their rush to keep up with Owen and his pack. Owen made sure the safety wasn't on his gun; he'd definitely need that.

He had been ushered into the kill zone, and none of his velociraptors were trained to handle multiple enemies as one. On top of that, the awkwardness between Blue and the younger raptors, April in particular, would not help Owen's pack in a fight. He missed the unity of the old girls: Charlie, Echo, Delta and Blue. He'd had more _time_ with them, a whole extra year, before they were put through a fight. April, Lex, Lucy and Josie were simply too young. Owen hadn't been able to work with them enough, and they were having trouble accepting Blue as their beta. Thankfully, his position as alpha was secure; Owen had made that clear the day they were born. But Blue was older, part of a different pack. They respected her, obeyed her, but they didn't want to.

And that was a problem.

Another problem: there was no shelter on this stupid island. Where were they supposed to go to get away from the enemy raptors? Nowhere. And Owen knew that, in a fight, it would be impossibly hard for the six of them to win.

But they were going to have to try. They had no choice.

"Blue," Owen called as they ran, slightly out of breath. "Stalk them, don't let them stalk us." Owen turned, following the sounds of the branches breaking, heading directly towards where he knew the enemy raptors were. If he could turn the situation around, turn the enemies into the prey, then he could treat this just like a pig run with multiple deadly pigs. It could be an amped-up version of a training exercise.

Blue seemed to get wind of what Owen was thinking, following him towards the other raptors. Her siblings followed, screeching loudly, sounding out their defiance. Owen heard an enemy raptor shriek, saw the faintest gleam of moonlight off of scales as something slithered through the trees in front of him. He tried his best to listen over the sound of their footsteps, attempting to scope out how many raptors were surrounding them. If they were smart, which of course they were, then there would be around three or four in front of Owen and his raptors, and probably two behind them, ready to catch the stragglers if there were any.

Too close. Owen's raptors were too close together; they needed to spread out, surround their enemies if they were to flip the stakes. So Owen sent Josie and Lucy off to each side, anxiety threatening to paralyze him when he did. Josie and Lucy were small, and sending each of them out alone was risky but necessary. April was too rebellious to go alone, Lex had too good of senses, and he wanted Blue with him.

It wasn't long before a loud, pained screech sounded through the woods, coming from Owen's right.

 _Josie_ , he thought. "Lex, go! Find her," he called, seeing Lex dart away in the corner of his eye. That was one of his raptors, wounded already. He couldn't lose any of them; this couldn't be a repeat of the fight against the Indominus. _Lucy has to pull through. She has to herd the other raptors, bring them into our hunting range._

And already Owen spotted a perfect spot to herd the enemy raptors, which he was confident Lucy had already noticed. A clearing, bathed in moonlight and surrounded by trees lay in front of them, but Owen couldn't see how far in the dark. His depth perception was off without sunlight to help him see.

He kept going, though; he was beginning to notice dark shadows darting through the woods before him, the moonlight breaking through the canopy of the trees as they got closer to the clearing. Owen counted one, two three raptors that they were herding; the fourth must've been the one that wounded Josie. Owen hoped Lex was holding up okay; he didn't know how serious Josie's injuries were. April screeched behind him and Owen heard her skid against the grass, trying to run faster, to get to the clearing.

 _Just a few more feet_ , thought Owen, finally breaking through the thick bushes that surrounded the clearing. He felt a swooping feeling in his stomach, triumph mixed with terror, when he saw that they had successfully forced the enemy raptors into the clearing with them; two more burst through behind April and Blue, breathing fiercely, claws glinting in the starlight. Owen heard a weak screech echo through the woods, too deep to be Josie's or Lex's.

 _One down_ , thought Owen. _Five to go._

 _AN: Sorry this came up a few hours late! I was dealing with the stuff on Wattpad for hours last night (literally). But anyways, go check out 'The Aftermath' on AO3, written by the lovely Caitlynnnn!_

 _Review! New chapter tomorrow (August 1_ _st_ _)_


	6. Sick

_AN: Super excited about this chapter. We're starting to get in the thick of things! Much thanks to Caitlynnnn and MakorraLove21 for assisting me on Wattpad. I really appreciate you guys!_

Claire fell asleep. She hadn't meant to; she had every intention of finding her way out of the tunnel, following Boss, _processing_ the fact that she'd just spoken with the man that had thought up Project K. His little idea and its resulting chaos had almost cost Claire her life several times last year, and his henchman (Hunt) had tried his very best to tear apart Owen in any way he could.

Boss was a different kind of evil than Hunt. Hunt took matters into his own hands, made everything personal. Boss was smarter, made everyone else do his dirty work while he sat in the shadows and plotted. Claire couldn't figure him out, but she had the faint idea that Helen could. Helen knew more than she had initially let on. Claire had every intention of questioning her, once she got out of the tunnel, but the darkness surrounded her and she felt so _exhausted_. It was strange; Claire couldn't remember feeling this tired ever, even when she'd been running for her life from Hunt.

So she slept, huddling against the damp wall, wishing as she fell asleep that she had her jacket she'd left in Owen's office. It was her favorite coat, black with a nice belt that tied nicely around her waist.

She dreamt of Owen, of their adventures a year ago. Images of Alice, the raptor that had been abused by a deranged Patrick Hunt flitted through her dreams, hissing and spitting and glaring at Claire with her yellow eyes. Wayne, kidnapping her, knocking her out and pinning her arms to her sides. Owen, smiling at her, his broad shoulders shaking with laughter at something Claire had said.

She woke up feeling oddly refreshed, less dizzy than she had been before she went to sleep. For a moment, anyways. Sickness hit Claire so rapidly that she barely had time to roll herself over before she threw up bile, the only thing left in her system.

 _What is this?_ Wondered Claire. This had to be more than symptoms of a concussion, like she'd thought previously. She'd gotten sick twice now and the persisting dizziness and exhaustion…had Wayne slipped her a drug? Claire made a mental note to ask Helen if she'd been drugged in the beginning, when she'd first been taken.

For now, Claire could only crawl away from the pile of sick on the floor, spitting the nasty taste out of her mouth. Boss had mentioned Claire could get out if she could find a light. She felt for the wall that was actually a door, the one that Boss had slipped out of. The wall was smooth stone but Claire ran her fingernails along it, thankful that she no longer had to care about ruining a manicure. She hadn't bothered with painting her nails in over a year. There didn't seem to be a reason to anymore.

"Found it," she whispered triumphantly, her nails catching in a faint crack in the wall. Claire traced the crack; it ran straight up and down, stretching from the floor to ceiling high above her. Not a light switch, but it was a start. Claire had found the door. She kept one hand on the crack, feeling around the wall as far as she could reach. Boss had sounded so sarcastic when he had said to find a light, like Claire was missing something incredibly obvious.

Unless he was messing with her. Perhaps Boss thought Claire needed a light to find this door, perhaps he didn't believe she was smart enough to dig her way out of this tunnel in the dark. Claire sincerely hoped it was the second option, because there was nothing else for her to grasp at on the wall, no more cracks or bumps or anything that felt out of the ordinary. Claire thought back to Wayne, opening the passageway to hand her over to Boss. He had slid his hand over the stone and the wall had simply disappeared, melting away as if it wasn't there in the first place. Claire did the same, knowing she must look ridiculous, waving her hand across a wall in the dark.

Perhaps that was the light Boss had spoken of. Claire had to make light of her pride, throw it away in order to get out of here. Maybe it wasn't a physical light, but a mental one. Or maybe she'd been shut up in the darkness too long and she was going crazy, thinking far too in-depth for her own good. Probably that was it.

There was, however, reason behind Claire's madness; the wall disappeared just like it had when she'd been shoved through it earlier. The tunnel was flooded in light but Claire didn't stick around to observe her prison. She staggered out, hearing the door close behind her. Wayne was there immediately, grabbing her arm roughly and tugging her back down the hall, back to the room with all the weapons on the walls. Claire didn't bother struggling against Wayne or even responding to his rough greeting. She only wanted to brush her teeth or lie down, whichever came first. She ached for Owen, for his arms to be the ones holding her instead of Wayne's.

But Owen wasn't here and wishing he was would not help her. Getting over this sickness would be the best thing. Then Claire would be free to investigate. She wanted to unearth as much information about Boss as possible, and Helen would be just the person to interrogate.

…

Lex struggled through the trees lining the clearing, dragging a half-unconscious Josie behind her. They didn't try to force their way past the enemy raptors but instead stood behind them. Owen was thankful for them; he had allies on every side of the clearing now. They weren't surrounded anymore, nor were they outnumbered. Still, the other raptors had the home-turf advantage and Owen knew that his girls wouldn't be much in an actual fight simply because of their age.

Owen remembered his plan. Treat this like a pig run with multiple targets. Don't make his raptors work alone; instead, use their numbers to his advantage, make them work as a pack because that was the only way they'd get out of this alive.

The sun was just beginning to rise, pinkish light shining faintly through the trees. Owen could see his enemies clearly now; they resembled very much the photos of the first velociraptors that Hammond had hatched: plain, greenish scales with no identifying marks like Blue had. Her bright colors had been engineered by Wu, a way to differentiate his ever-important _assets_. Owen supposed that, when the park had just been speculation, Wu hadn't thought of making his dinosaurs pretty. He'd simply focused on recreating the things.

"Okay, Blue," said Owen, looking directly at his beta. Blue focused on him with one eye, keeping the other steadily trained on the enemy raptor closest to her. "You know what to do."

Blue turned her head to April, who was acting as impatient as ever, ready to attack whatever animal came near her. Owen shouted at her to follow Blue's lead: kill the pigs. Or, in this case, kill the velociraptors. He repeated the order to Lucy and Lex even though Owen knew they would follow Blue without question. April was the wild card. Josie made a series of clicking noises to show that she had heard, but Owen knew she couldn't fight; her wounds looked bad.

First things first: how to get the two raptors at his back into the middle of the clearing without causing a massive forest-wide chase? Right now things were at a standstill, everybody was waiting for someone else to make the first move, and Owen knew he had to be the one to start something; his pack wouldn't do anything unless he moved first.

So he took a step forward, remembering that Lex was on the border of the clearing: she could herd the two outlying raptors exactly where Owen wanted them, if he could distract the three in the middle. But velociraptors were smart; they would know what tactics Owen would try before he tried them. So he had to take advantage of his experience, of his raptors' trust in him. He took another step towards the grayish green raptor in front of him, noting that it was bigger than Blue; he'd never seen a velociraptor this large before.

"Blue," Owen said, locking eyes with the raptor in front of him. It was a show of dominance; obviously this one was alpha. It stood in front of the others, commanding, intimidating.

Blue moved before Owen could say anything else, understanding exactly what he wanted her to do. April followed her, mirroring her movement without second thought and Owen smiled triumphantly. His pack was working together for the first time. "Lex, go!" Owen yelled without turning around, hearing Lex screech and charge at the two raptors behind him, pushing them forward while April and Blue scratched at the raptors in the center. Owen never lost eye contact with the other alpha; it simply stood there, staring at him, waiting for Owen to attack.

"Good," said Owen, watching Lex's progress out of the corner of his eye. The rogue raptors were putting up a tremendous fight but they didn't quite know what was happening to them; they'd never been attacked before; they ran Isla Sorna. No animal alive had dared to come after them before. "Enough of this," he muttered to himself, shrugging the gun off his shoulder, cocking it mid-movement. If he killed the alpha, the rest of the pack would immediately turn to the beta for orders and Owen could only pray that the beta was the raptor killed by Lex and Josie.

The alpha seemed to get wind of Owen's plan and swiped at him with curved claws; Owen ducked and rolled away, towards Lex and her uneven battle with the two wild raptors. He shot at one of them through the tangle of claws and swinging tails; it screeched and fell over, not dead but wounded all the same. Lex glanced at Owen gratefully and continued her fight, pressing towards the center of the clearing where her sisters could help her.

Owen whipped around, scouring the clearing for the alpha, taking shots at enemy raptors every chance he got. This was insane; too many battles at once to fight, too many pigs to corner. He saw Blue kick down her opponent, slashing at its throat to finish it off. She darted over to Owen, her scales flecked with blood.

"Where's that alpha?" Owen questioned quietly, shouting victoriously when he managed to hit April's rival in the eye with a bullet. April ran over to help Lex, finishing off the last raptor standing with ease; two siblings against one wounded animal.

Owen, knowing the danger hadn't passed, went over to Josie, speaking soothing words to her as he examined her wounds. Not fatal, if Owen could tend to them quick enough.

He felt something warm and sticky running down his back, and he realized that he'd been sliced by the alpha; he hadn't been able to get out of the way in time. Owen looked at Blue, who was standing relaxed, surveying the bodies around her. Lex wasn't so relaxed; she still stood stiffly, on alert. Obviously she smelled something.

The alpha was still out there.

 _AN: So I wanted this battle to be more about the pack working together than action, but don't worry, you'll get plenty of action with that rogue alpha raptor. It's like the anti-Owen in dinosaur form!_

 _Review and see you tomorrow! (August 2_ _nd_ _)._


	7. Light

_AN: So a small correction on what I said before. Alpha is not the anti-Owen personality-wise. She's the anti-Owen pack wise- alpha vs. alpha. Also, to those of you who have picked up on part of the plot, well done! I'm proud of you._

The threat wasn't past; the other alpha was around somewhere, watching, waiting. Lex knew it by her sense of smell, Blue knew it by Lex's body language, and Owen knew it because he would never leave a battle that his pack had died fighting. If Alpha was smart, she'd lie low, wait for Owen to drop his guard before attacking.

But for now, Owen had to focus on Josie. He set Blue, Lex, Lucy and April on guard duty while he tended to Josie, who was bleeding so much that Owen could barely see the deep cuts gouged in her skin. The bright morning sunlight shone over him as he searched through the pack Lowery had given him, trying to find bandages or anything to clear away the blood. Josie didn't resist his touch but lay still, her eyes fluttering wildly.

Owen felt like he'd just been given a shot of adrenaline; his heart was pumping fast, sweat was dripping down his forehead from the humidity and he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept, but it didn't seem to be bothering him too much. He knew he'd be nearly dead once he calmed down a bit; he'd have to sleep eventually. "Yes," he whispered, tugging out a thick white cloth Lowery had tucked into the pack. He started mopping away the blood, frowning when the deep cuts underneath were finally revealed.

Owen wasn't surprised when Lowery's voice crackled through the radio, asking for an update on his progress. Owen talked while he worked; the conversation pulled him out of his worry. He hated seeing Josie like this; she was the raptor named after Claire and seeing her wounded only reminded Owen that Claire could be hurt just as badly.

Lowery spoke about Jurassic World, telling Owen that everything was running smoothly since Claire had been kidnapped, although several people had questioned about her and Owen's disappearance. Owen laughed when Lowery told him what story he'd made up to excuse their absence; apparently Owen was teaching Claire how to waterski in the Bahamas.

"How'd you manage to come up with that one? Owen snickered, wrapping bandages gently around Josie's body, lifting her small form off the ground when they were secure. She wasn't heavy; Owen could carry her until she was well enough to walk. If she ever got well enough to walk, that is.

"I thought of the thing Claire would hate to do the most," replied Lowery, laughter dancing in his voice. "Could you picture her on water skis?"

Owen grinned. "She outran a T-Rex in heels, Lowery. She'd probably blow our minds on water skis. Now _you_ __on the other hand…"

"Oh, I would end up killing myself on those things," said Lowery. "No skis for me."

"You could probably kneeboard," Owen mused, pushing through the woods. Blue followed him and April, Lex and Lucy followed her as they went deeper into the woods. "I don't think that requires much balance."

"I don't know," said Lowery. "Remember the roller skating fiasco? Skating is supposed to be easy, dude. I'm pretty sure they haven't fixed that hole in the wall yet. They may end up suing me in the end."

Owen chuckled at the memory of the incident Lowery affectionately referred to as "The Roller Skating Fiasco". Too funny for words, the accident had been one Owen was sure he would remember for the rest of his life.

"Do you think you're any closer to finding her?" Lowery asked quietly, all the humor gone from his voice.

Owen sighed and all his worry returned to him; he felt as if it physically bowed his shoulders, enslaving him. "I don't know. Lex and Blue haven't lost her scent, so that's something. But this place is a jungle. She could be anywhere."

"So look everywhere," said Lowery. "Whoever has Claire took her for a reason. She's out there somewhere."

Owen was about to respond but a twig snapped somewhere behind him before he could, pulling his attention from Lowery to the tangled forest behind him. Owen saw nothing but knew Alpha was out there all the same, following them, waiting for the right opportunity to attack. '

"I know," said Owen. Josie made a faint warbling noise and rolled over, curling into Owen just like she'd done when she first hatched. Josie had always been more affectionate to him than any of the other raptors; that was why she'd been named after Claire. That and the bright red strips zigzagging across her body that so resembled the shade of Claire's hair.

Forget the worry. Owen _missed_ Claire. He missed her smile. He missed how annoyed she got when her hair didn't lay exactly the way she wanted it to. He missed her touch, something he'd grown so used to in the past year. Her voice and how hoarse it sounded in the morning, when she was just waking up. The way her cheeks flushed when he kissed her.

Owen missed the way Claire looked at him, the way that one single glance from her made him feel warm and happy and slightly nervous all at the same time.

"You'll get her back," said Lowery, his voice determined. "And when you do, I'll learn to waterski."

Owen rolled his eyes the way Claire would've if she could hear his and Lowery's conversation. "I'm holding you to that promise."

…

Claire was determined to get answers out of Helen. Claire wanted to know everything that Helen knew; why they were here, more about how Helen came to be a prisoner, and what made her "classified". Boss seemed weirdly protective over Helen and Claire didn't like it; Helen seemed to be her only ally on Isla Sorna.

But Claire didn't have to try very hard to get information from Helen. She simply asked what Helen's story was once Wayne had left the room, picking herself off the floor where Wayne had thrown her down like she was an old pair of shoes.

"Well," began Helen, nervously twisting the ends of her matted brown hair. "Are you sure you're okay? You look awfully pale. Let me get you some water. Wayne should bring food by in an hour; they don't starve us here."

Claire frowned but she couldn't completely disguise the relief that flooded her when Helen mentioned food. Claire was _hungry_.

She was also starting to form a tentative theory about her sickness. A highly probable, terrifying theory that Claire wasn't sure she could quite deal with at the moment. Not when she was alone. Not without Owen.

"How did they get you?" asked Claire, meeting Helen's dark brown eyes without hesitation. Claire had learned from experience that eye contact was the best way to squeeze answers out of a person; most people felt uncomfortable if she looked at them too long and would spill their secrets just to get Claire to look away.

"I told you I'm a freelance journalist," said Helen unblinkingly. Claire forced herself to keep a straight face even though she was tempted to smile. Helen wasn't stupid; she knew exactly what Claire was trying to do by her eye-contact trick, and it obviously didn't upset her in the slightest. "I needed a story, and I didn't care how much I had to go through to get one."

"So you came to Isla Sorna?" Claire asked incredulously, horrifying scenarios of brutal velociraptor attacks flitting through her mind. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

Helen sighed. "I know it wasn't smart to come here alone-"

"Or at all," Claire interrupted.

"But I'm a writer, Claire. I'd do anything for a story. Just like you'd do anything for your park."

Claire's response caught in her throat when she thought back to last year. She'd stayed in an empty park when every dinosaur was loose and there was a maniac hunting her. She supposed she was even with Helen coming to Isla Sorna alone in terms of dangerous expeditions.

"These people have an underground tunnel that runs the length of Isla Sorna. That's how they get from one end of the island to the other without getting attacked. I assume that's where Wayne took you to be questioned by Boss; I've never heard of him leaving the tunnel before. When I came to Isla Sorna, I stumbled upon the tunnel, tripped over the hatch when I was walking in the woods. It's pitch-black in there; nobody could see me if they tried, so I stayed there for a while, listened to Boss's conversations with all of his lackeys: Hunt, Wu, Bridgette, Wayne, Adam, all of them. Until Adam caught me, that is."

"You know everything?"

Helen nodded. "I know everything. Project K, InGen's weapons goal with Owen's velociraptors, their new plan, everything that happened in the park last year, and anything else that InGen's done in the past 18 months."

No wonder Boss had kept Helen locked up. If she escaped, all of their ideas would be exposed. The underground InGen could be shut down, and Helen was the key.

"The real question is," said Helen, "why are you here? I initially thought it was because you knew about Project K, but if that story was exposed a year ago and the world already knows…"

"What reason would Boss have for taking me?" Claire wondered aloud, catching onto Helen's train of thought.

A ray of sunlight shone through the room, shining straight into Claire's eyes. She shut them and basked in the warmth, forgetting for a moment that she was in a windowless room and light shouldn't be able to get in.

" _I'm sure you can get out of here yourself. All you need is a little light."_

Claire gasped and opened her eyes, blinking rapidly in the brightness. "Where's the light coming from?" She stood, eyes darting all over the room, following the light that was reflecting off of all the knives and spears fastened to the wall.

"The air vent," said Helen, who was obviously confused. "Well, I call it an air vent. Really it's just a vent that leads outside; sunlight shines through it every day. Even dirt sometimes comes through the cracks, when the wind is really strong. Once a plant started growing; its roots were halfway across the room before Wayne chopped them off."

"Does it come off?" Claire asked, staring at the edges of the vent covering. This was almost too easy. Pull the cover off and smash bits of the wall away until they formed a hole big enough to climb out, and poof! They'd be gone. And Boss had given her the hint.

Why would her captor tell her how to escape?

"You won't be able to get it," said Helen, bending down behind Claire. She traced the outline of the covering with her pale hands, a wistful look in her eye. "I've tried everything. Pried at this thing with a few of these knives," she gestured to the knives surrounding them, "I even shot at it once, but Wayne came in and threatened to shoot me, so I gave up. Our captors aren't stupid. Dimwitted, yes, because Boss surrounds himself with people less intelligent than he, but not stupid. They wouldn't put us in a room that we could get out of so easily."

The feeling of hope beginning to build in Claire's chest wasn't diminished by Helen's words. She could get out of here. She could get to Owen and they could shut this down.

And Helen was going to help her.

 _AN:" Someone's back from London, no it's not the Queen. Someone's back from London, it's not Mr. Bean. It's not the Royal Baby, I think his name is Jeff…stop singing and kiss me!" Literally that song has been playing over and over and over AND OVER in my head for the past three days. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just YouTube "Parks and Rec Andy comes back" and you'll see probably the cutest thing in the entire world ever. Seriously. DO IT._

 _Review! New chapter tomorrow! (August 3_ _rd_ _)._


	8. Close

_AN: I am about to face the horrifying fight-to-the-death that is college registration. Pray for me, guys. And without further ado, chapter 8!_

"Up. Get up. I've brought your food."

Hands pushed at Claire, bringing her out of the deep sleep she'd been enjoying. It was early morning, judging by the amount of light in their windowless room. Claire took the tray Wayne held out to her, pressing her back protectively against the vent that could possibly be her way out of this prison.

"Thank you," she said, forcing herself to look Wayne in the eyes. They were so dark brown that they almost looked black, with none of the warmth Helen's eyes had.

"Yes," said Helen briskly, standing up to usher Wayne out of the room, shooting an anxious glance at Claire as she went. Claire bit her lip and nodded her head slightly, silently telling Helen that she had to get Wayne out of the room fast.

"What are you doing?" Wayne asked, resisting Helen.

"Claire doesn't feel well," answered Helen.

"She looks kinda green," said Wayne, staring curiously at Claire, who was indeed turning a sickly shade of green.

"Exactly," said Helen. "Now get outside before you catch her virus." She nearly pushed Wayne out the door; he resisted for a moment but eventually relented, leaving Claire and Helen alone just in time.

Claire ran to the small toilet in the corner and promptly threw up in it; Helen held back her hair as she had done the day before.

They both knew what was "wrong" with Claire, although neither of them had acknowledged it out loud. They had agreed, however, to keep it a secret from Wayne as long as they could; who knew what Boss would do to Claire if he knew she was…in the condition she was?

Claire wasn't quite sure how to handle herself. She was happy, sure, but terrified all the same. More than anything, she wished Owen was with her. She was always better at getting through things with him at her side.

But Owen wasn't here. Where was he? Claire knew he had to be searching for her; Owen wasn't the type to sit around and let the police do all the work. She smiled despite the nausea. Owen was out there, somewhere. Maybe he was on Isla Sorna, fighting his way closer to her.

"You done?" asked Helen, combing Claire's hair gently with her fingers. Helen had told Claire everything the other day, everything about her job and her disappearance and Claire had been relieved that she didn't seem to be withholding any secrets about InGen; she simply knew too much about…something. That was still a little fuzzy to Claire; sure, Helen knew about all InGen's unauthorized experiments, but Boss could've easily told Claire that. Instead, he had hidden the real reason Helen was a prisoner, the real reason Claire herself was a prisoner.

They were trapped and neither of them knew why.

Claire disposed of her mess and turned back to the vent, pushing her breakfast away. She would eat when the aftertaste of vomit was out of her mouth. Claire couldn't quite explain it, but she knew she _had_ to get this covering off, no matter how many times Helen told Claire that it couldn't be done. Boss himself had told her that all she needed to get out was a little light, and the only bit of sunlight in this room came from the vent.

Claire couldn't figure Boss out. Hunt had been easy; he was so jealous of Owen and wanted so badly to be in charge that he would do anything, kill anyone to get on top. Boss was already on top; everyone listened to him and Claire didn't entirely know why. Of course, he surrounded himself with less intelligent people than him, but Hunt had once been his ally and Dr. Wu designed a dinosaur army for him. What was it about Boss that made him…Boss?

Claire slipped her fingers through the cracks in the vent and tugged, just like she had done time and time again over the past day and a half. The thing didn't budge but stuck in the wall firmly, no matter how hard Claire pulled.

"It isn't going to work, Claire," said Helen softly, looking at Claire with just a hint of pity in her gaze.

"I am getting out of here," said Claire determinedly, glancing down at her abdomen. The sight spurred her on, made her more sure that she was right; this vent was her way out. "I have to."

"Look," said Helen, pushing Claire's hands away from the vent and onto her breakfast plate. "Your situation isn't like mine; people will be looking for you. They'll find us, Claire. You just have to let them. And you also have to eat, if you want a healthy-"

"Don't say it!" said Claire fiercely, eyes flashing at Helen. "I'll eat, just _don't say it_."

"This bug only works one way, you know," said Helen, holding up the small electronic device in her hand. "They can't hear what we say in here; we can only hear what they say out there. I spent forever working on it, shorting out the wires so it would work that way. We can talk about anything, Claire. You don't have to be alone."

"I'm not alone," said Claire, gesturing to Helen. "I just can't talk about this. Not without Owen. It's too big."

Helen smiled. "It isn't too big. You just think it is."

Claire returned Helen's smile warmly, eating a spoonful of her overcooked, rubbery oats. "I'm still going to work at that vent, you know."

Helen laughed. "I figured you might say that. Now _eat_."

…

Owen knew he was getting close. Blue had sped up ever so slightly in the past ten minutes, swishing her tail eagerly. Even Josie had perked up, raising her head and opening her eyes, looking around at the forest lazily as she was carried through the trees.

The trees were starting to thin somewhat, the grass thickening and preventing him from running as fast as he wanted to. Perhaps he was exhausted; he could feel his eyes drooping from lack of sleep, but how was he supposed to stop? How could he leave Claire alone, a captive? She'd been there for several days now and Owen had only allowed himself a few hours' sleep during that time and he was starting to feel the repercussions. His whole body was shaking, his mind was trying to focus on too many things at once, and he had trouble remembering Alpha, who was still stalking them, judging by Lex's over-active eyes, darting from tree to tree, searching for the thing she smelled but could not see.

So how was he supposed to sleep? Lose consciousness for one second and Claire could be killed or Alpha would fly out of the woods and attack them. What could Owen do? Climb up a tree and sleep up there?

As much as he hated to admit it, Owen knew he would have to find shelter for the night. He couldn't keep going like this; he'd have both a mental and physical breakdown if he didn't get any rest, and that would be of no help to anyone. For now, he could only keep running, keep following the trail until he spotted a place sturdy enough to keep out a hunting velociraptor.

Owen didn't realize how distracted he was until he nearly smashed straight into Blue, Josie hissing angrily when he stopped abruptly. "Sorry," Owen murmured to Josie, apologizing for jostling her injured body.

Josie nuzzled him playfully, letting him know she wasn't terribly angry at him.

"You could bite my arm off in an instant, you know," said Owen, rubbing his thumb over Josie's head. Blue hissed at him, instantly directing Owen's attention to the reason they had stopped.

A building, low and long, sat in front of them, its foundations weathered by countless rainstorms and its close proximity to the sea. It seemed to have been used as a scratching post for raptors; deep claw marks were etched into the stone, creating crosshatch marks that decorated the whole building. Owen was reminded of his high school Algebra notes; he'd decorated them in a similar design, lines on top of lines.

Blue looked at Owen pointedly and Owen understood what she was trying to say.

 _There. Claire's in there._

Owen walked quietly towards the building, scanning it for windows or doors, finding none. His heart was beating so hard that Owen had the idea that, if he looked down at his chest, he would be able to see it move through his skin. _Claire_. Owen stumbled, his body moving sluggishly, not doing quite what he wanted it to.

Rest. He needed rest.

He walked around the building, ducking behind the thick bushes that surrounded the base, his raptors sneaking along stealthily behind him. Finally, just when Owen was debating sleeping under the cover of the bushes (not sturdy, but at least he'd be hidden from prying eyes), he found a large vent leading to an air duct.

"Perfect," Owen said gratefully, setting Josie down in the grass beside April. He popped the ornate cover off with ease and slid inside. It was a short tunnel of an air duct with a vent cover at the other end, presumably leading inside the building. Owen made a mental note to check that out when he woke up.

He couldn't quite explain the nervous flutter in his chest that only got more powerful when he looked outside the tunnel, the opening perfectly in place to receive the morning sun's rays. Owen collapsed against the cold metal wall, his eyes closing of their own accord.

"Rest, Blue. Take shifts. Keep a lookout," Owen muttered, knowing Blue could hear. He thought of Claire in his half-asleep state. How close was he to her?

…

"Rest, Blue. Take shifts. Keep a lookout."

The softly spoken words echoed through the vent, causing tears to smart in Claire's eyes, even if she wasn't a hundred percent sure she hadn't imagined the voice.

His voice. Owen's voice.

"Helen," she gasped, peering through the vent. A breeze rustled through it, blowing back her hair as she tried to see Owen's familiar outline. But it was too late in the afternoon; morning had faded, and Claire's brief window to the outside world had all but disappeared with the light. She couldn't see anything, couldn't know if his voice had been a figment of her overly desperate imagination. "Did you hear that?"

Helen looked up from her lunch, twirling her fork in her hand absentmindedly. "Hear what?"

Claire gripped the vent's bars. "Owen!" she whispered into the vent, as loudly as she dared. Maybe this room wasn't bugged, but Claire was sure Wayne would hear if she suddenly shouted her husband's name.

Helen crawled over beside Claire, poking her fingers through the holes in the cover. "What did you hear?"

"Owen," said Claire, ignoring Helen's exasperated look. "You told me this morning that you believed people would come for me. He's here, Helen. I know he is."

Helen took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling, but nodded her head. "I believe you."

"Owen!" Claire whisper-called again, feeling that if she willed her voice to carry all the way through the air duct, it would. To her disappointment, there was no response; only the faint breeze again.

"What did he say?" Helen asked, squinting into the dark duct.

Claire repeated Owen's words to Helen, biting her lip so hard that she almost brought blood. Owen had come after her with Blue and, judging by him wanting her to "take shifts", he had brought the younger raptors with him too.

He hadn't abandoned her. She wasn't alone. Again, Claire looked at her stomach and for the first time imagined what Owen's reaction would be when she told him.

He'd smile that quirky grin she loved so much, his eyes crinkling around the corners. He'd hold her so tightly that she'd barely be able to breath and whisper happy, excited words in her ear. He'd kiss her, tell her he loved her, tell her not to be anxious; she'd be good at this, and that they'd figure it out together.

Claire took a shaky breath as she allowed herself to feel something other than anxiety and dread for the first time in days. Owen was close, and he would find her. She would find him.

She was pregnant, and everything would be okay.

 _AN: I had so much fun writing this chapter. I know it starts off a little slow, but we did get some cuteness there in the end! And seriously, guys, go check out The Aftermath on AO3, written by the lovely Caitlynnn_10 and (I think) disneybrony. You'll enjoy it!_

 _Review! New chapter up TOMORROW! (August 4_ _th_ _)_


	9. Found

_AN: REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOOOOOOOD! Rapid POV switches in this chapter because I can't help it; I want to show how both of them feel and also I had to show you some of what Boss is up to, that mysterious little antagonist._

"More raptors than usual out there, Boss," said Wayne. Boss heard him fiddling with something on the stove; it must be time to feed the girls breakfast. "One of them has the brightest blue streaks on it. Never seen anything like it before."

"They adapt, Wayne," said Boss impatiently. Wayne was almost too dim-witted for his own good. "This is Isla Sorna. We have an underground tunnel for a reason."

"I know, Boss," said Wayne. "It just seems weird, that's all."

"Why don't you let me worry about what seems weird," said Boss, feeling his way towards the door. "I've got bigger issues than dealing with a few stray raptors. Adam's found bodies of a few of our biggest raptors out there; we have a hostile animal on this island."

"Won't that hurt the plan, Boss?" asked Wayne. Boss could imagine the wide-eyed look on Wayne's face, although he'd never actually _seen_ Wayne's face before.

"Yes, idiot. Of course that hurts the plan. We can't sell dinosaurs if they're all dead."

"Yeah, Boss. Of course," said Wayne. "I mean, won't Wu-"

" _Didn't I tell you never to mention his name?_ " said Boss furiously, slamming his fist against the wall. "Wu disobeyed me. He never asked for permission before killing all our robots. Now we have to start from scratch, and he's not even here to help us with the new project."

"Sorry Boss," said Wayne, clanging his pot loudly against something. "I won't say anything about him again."

"Good," said Boss. "Take that breakfast to the girls. I'm sure they're hungry. I've got to go; Adam's waiting on me. And make sure Claire's secure; I can't have her escaping on me."

"You got it, Boss. When're you going to Isla Nublar?"

"Soon," said Boss. "I've got to get those embryos while nobody is giving them any attention; they can't run the place without Claire." He stepped outside of the kitchen, into the hallway that he'd memorized. It took thirty steps to reach the tunnel, and sixty steps more to reach the trapdoor.

"Right," said Wayne. "You're right."

…

"How long do you think you have?" Helen asked, eyeing the door. They knew Wayne was coming; they'd overheard the entire conversation between him and Boss, thanks to the bug. Claire would ponder what they had talked about later; right now her prime concern was going to be keeping her morning sickness down long enough for Wayne to drop off their breakfast.

"Five minutes max," said Claire, taking slow, deep breaths. She couldn't contain her excitement at what Wayne had said about the blue velociraptor; it proved that hearing Owen's voice yesterday hadn't been her imagination. "Okay, three minutes."

"In and out," said Helen. "Just get him in, and throw him out."

The door opened with a bang and there Wayne stood, holding two bowls and a couple bottles of water. Claire thought she heard a sharp intake of breath echo through the vent, but she wasn't sure. "Breakfast," Wayne said unnecessarily, holding out the bowls to Helen, who took them immediately. "You feeling better?" he asked Claire, who smiled brightly.

"I am," she said, hoping that her smile reached her eyes.

"That's good, I guess," said Wayne. "Be back later with lunch."

Claire ran for the toilet the second the door shut, repeating the cycle that she'd perfected over the past two days.

"They'll figure it out eventually, Claire" said Helen, holding back Claire's hair as she always did. "You won't be able to hide this forever."

"No, they won't," said Claire. "We're getting out of here."

…

Owen woke with a quiet grunt when the sunlight hit him straight in the face. He shrugged off his sleepiness quickly, wanting to explore the air duct but April was hissing like crazy, trying to get his attention.

Owen poked his head out of the duct, holding his finger to his lips to signal April to be quiet. Everything seemed peaceful outside; there was no sign of Alpha or any other adversary that they were unaware of. Josie seemed to be healing nicely; she was shifting her weight uneasily, trying to get up to her feet.

"Take it easy, Josie," said Owen, placing a hand over her to keep her down. "I don't want you getting up before you have to."

Josie looked at him questioningly but lay back down, her bandages flattening out as she did so.

"Good," said Owen. "Just stay still."

He squirmed back in the duct, back towards the only obvious entrance to the building. He was near people; that much he knew. Owen listened intently as he crawled deeper inside, listening to the sounds coming from the other side of the duct. A man's voice, strangely distorted somehow, hit Owen's ears. He couldn't quite make out what the man was saying, but Owen recognized the voice, having heard it once before.

Claire's kidnapper.

Anger boiled in Owen as he wriggled closer and closer to the end of the duct. He could see another vent cover, exactly like the one he'd popped off the day before. He could just barely make out the inside of a room through the cover, but Owen wasn't really paying attention to what he could see. He was focused more on what he could hear because now a woman was talking and she sounded so much like Claire that Owen felt a strange tugging sensation in his stomach, an aching feeling, one he couldn't quite describe.

"Five minutes max," Claire was saying, causing Owen to let out a shuddering breath that was too loud; he didn't hear what she said next. He heaved himself forward, as close to the cover as he dared, thanking God that he wasn't claustrophobic; the duct's walls pressed in on him from each side; Owen was nearly too big to fit but he didn't care.

Another woman spoke to Claire like a friend, her voice gentle and calm. Owen felt the strange feeling of relief blossom in his chest; Claire hadn't been scared and alone, as he had imagined. There was someone else with her and Owen couldn't bring himself to care who it was, who else these people had taken; all he could think about was Claire.

Owen heard a door open with a loud bang and he couldn't stop himself from gasping in surprise. Owen mentally slapped himself, knowing someone had to have heard him.

Conversation seemed to carry on like normal in the room and Owen let out a quiet breath, thankful that he apparently hadn't been heard. He kept himself as still as he could, closing his eyes in an attempt to block out his other senses so he could focus only on what he could hear. He listened hungrily to Claire's anxious, hurried voice as she tried to get the man to leave. He heard Claire retch immediately after the door shut, heard the other woman whisper words of comfort to Claire. Owen tried to force away the knot of concern building in his stomach –why was Claire sick?- and twisted himself to a more comfortable position as quietly as he could, not knowing if Claire and her friend were alone or if they were chaperoned. He missed part of Claire's conversation when he moved, but Owen was now flat on his stomach instead of awkwardly on his side; he could grasp the screws at the end of the duct and pull himself close enough to be able to see through the gaps in the cover.

Owen felt his pulse quicken, felt his heart beat a nervous tattoo against his ribcage at the prospect of seeing Claire. He pressed his face against the bars, squinting a bit at the bright fluorescent light that shone in his eyes.

She was blurry; Owen's eyes weren't used to the light yet, but she was there and she was _whole_.

…

Claire just _knew_. She didn't know how she knew, she didn't know what caused that funny little quiver in her stomach, didn't know why she turned around and dropped to her knees in front of the vent. She just did it.

And he was there, his cool green eyes blinking at her, creating a funny little feeling in her like she'd just gotten the wind knocked out of her; Claire had nearly forgotten how to breath. _Owen_.

She grasped at him through the bars, her fingertips barely touching his through the small cracks, whispering an unending flood of words she couldn't quite understand but said anyway. She pulled hard at the cover that refused to move, despite her half-crazy, desperate jerks. She could see Owen struggling inside, twisting hard at something on the back of the cover, pushing at the strong metal that was separating the two of them.

"Screws," Claire dimly heard Owen mutter through her endless whispers. Resourceful as ever, he slid his knife deftly out of its holster; Claire heard the blade scrape against the metal duct and knew he had to be nearly squished inside of that thing but that wasn't important because she could see the cover loosening as Owen used his knife as a makeshift screwdriver; Claire pulled at it and he pushed until the thing creaked loudly out of place, the edges rusted and weathered.

And then Claire was hauling him out and somehow both of them were tangled together on the floor, clutching at the other, crying, shaking, not quite believing that they were together, that they had found each other.

Claire gripped the sides of Owen's face, her hands brushing against the familiar roughness of his stubble, trying to form intelligible words but somehow failing, finding it better to communicate with him silently, speaking only with her eyes.

"Claire," Owen mumbled, engulfing her with his arms, holding her like she'd yearned to be held for days, making her feel so very small compared to him and so very loved at the same time. He repeated her name again and again, a never-ending stream of quiet pleas against her neck.

"I'm okay," she said. "You've got me. I'm okay."

And she was.

 _AN: I wasn't going to end it there, but I felt like this was just the perfect place to stop, because next chapter we have the big reveal and that's an emotional rollercoaster of its own. And to answer one reviewer's question, yes! We will be seeing other dinosaurs like the dilophosaurus and the spinosaurus. Just give me a few chapters to get there (:_

 _See everyone tomorrow! (The 5_ _th_ _)_

 _Review!_


	10. Out

_AN: I really love writing super intense emotional scenes between Claire and Owen. And thank everyone for your wonderful responses on that last chapter; I hope all of you loved it just as much as I did. More romance (and some action) headed your way._

Claire didn't really mean to tell him the way she did, but the words spilled out of her before she could stop them, before she could think about them, and she found herself saying, "I'm pregnant," to Owen's neck, where she'd buried her face only moments before.

He reacted just as she expected he would, laughing quietly, shakily, against her skin, slipping his hand beneath her shirt to rest on her stomach, murmuring his love for her over and over again in her ear. She felt his heart thumping against hers, felt the warm breeze of his breath wash over her, the rough palms of his hands cradling her head.

"Are you sure?" he asked softly, pressing his forehead to hers. She looked at him, her beautiful husband, his clear green eyes warm and welcoming, and nodded slowly, smiling for the first time in days.

Owen flashed his teeth at her in a brief smile before smashing his lips to hers in a kiss that left Claire trembling, grasping at him, wanting more, needing to feel him and touch him and hold him.

But now wasn't the time, and it dawned on her that they were still trapped, still in the clutches of the remaining members of InGen, who were planning something and Claire still didn't know what.

"I was so worried," said Owen, pulling Claire's hand up to his face, kissing it lightly. " _Claire_."

He was dirty, sweaty, streaked with mud and dried blood. "How did you find me?" Claire asked, stroking his hair.

Owen told her his story quickly, how he'd gone back for his raptors, how he'd called Lowery and gotten over to Isla Sorna as quickly as possible. He couldn't keep the pride out of his voice when he spoke of his raptors fighting together as a pack for the first time, but there was also a faint strand of dread in the story when he told her about the other alpha raptor, who was still hunting him.

Claire told him everything when he was done, told him about Boss and Wayne and InGen, about Helen and her bug and how Boss was going back to Isla Nublar for embryos, how Boss knew someone else was on Isla Sorna. She introduced Helen, whom Claire had almost forgotten about; the former had retreated into the far corner of the room when Owen had been pulled out of the air duct. She seemed nervous, looked as pale as Claire did right before she threw up.

"There's something else," said Helen, taking a deep breath. She looked Claire straight in the eyes, silently asking for forgiveness. Claire nodded once, understanding immediately that Helen _did_ know something that she hadn't told Claire previously. "Boss is blind," she said, glancing towards the bug sitting near one of the huge knives fastened to the wall. "That's why he won't let me off the island. It's not that I know of Project K, or that I know that InGen still exists, or anything else. He's blind and he's afraid I'll use my knowledge to blackmail him if ever I were to get out."

Claire inhaled sharply, stumbling backwards into Owen, who was right there to keep her steady, his strong hands against her back, holding her waist.

 _That's why the tunnel had been so dark. That's why it hadn't bothered him. But how did he know the way out of here was to follow the light? And why would he have told me the way out?_

"It's a game," said Claire. "Boss _wants_ us to escape. He told me the way out, he knows that there's someone else on the island, and he's left us here with only Wayne as a guard. Wayne might be strong by himself, but against the three of us?"

"We've played straight into their hands," said Owen, who sounded surprisingly calm. Claire looked up at him to find mixed emotions on his face; a furrowed brow, steely eyes, but a small smile on his face that Claire knew was because of her. "And now the question is, how are we supposed to get off Isla Sorna undetected? That's the game; can the dinosaurs on this island catch us? Boss won't want another failure like Project K. I'm guessing he won't want this experiment to go down like the last one did."

"We're the test run," said Claire, reminded forcefully of last year, when she, Owen and Lowery had sat in the control room in Jurassic World, contemplating, throwing around theories to try and figure out what InGen was doing. "They're using us to test out their _weapons_ , to see if the untamed dinosaurs are as efficient if not more than the flesh-robots we dealt with last time."

"We have to get off of here," said Helen, who looked petrified. "Run away, get to Isla Nublar, call for help."

"We are the help," said Claire and Owen at the same time.

"Well, we can't just _stay_ here," said Helen, pointing to the air vent. "We'll be killed out there."

"I have a boat," said Owen, "if they haven't found it already. But if we take one step out of this room, everything in that jungle will be hunting for us. It'll be a race if we want to survive."

Claire smiled up at Owen. "Then that's why we stick together, right?"

Owen grinned. "For survival."

Helen just looked at the two of them in a confused sort of way.

…

Owen knew he should feel a bit apprehensive about reentering the jungle, especially with two other people, one of whom was his pregnant wife, but he couldn't feel anything past the joy that was flooding his body.

 _Pregnant._

Just thinking about it made him tingle, made him want to kiss Claire until neither of them could breath anymore, until the only thing in the world that mattered was the two of them, loving each other.

But that would have to wait, and Owen knew it. Simply getting to this building had been dangerous, and he'd been alone. With Claire and Helen added in? Their scent would attract every hungry animal on Isla Sorna, and Owen knew that the hungry outnumbered the full.

And Boss, whoever he was, thought of this as a game, wanted to use them simply to test out a project, like their lives didn't matter. Owen supposed that, in Boss's mind, this was revenge for exposing Project K and for shutting down most of InGen.

Really, all Owen wanted was a bit of a break. Just one day to spend alone with Claire, and then he'd be ready to fight. He would be ready to force his way out of this jungle, back to Isla Nublar where they would have the resources to stop these people.

He was thankful he'd brought all his raptors with him. Blue would protect Claire the way she protected Owen; to Blue, Claire had been a member of the pack ever since Project K; Owen supposed it was because they'd been through so much together. Of course, Blue didn't quite trust Claire yet, but she'd protect her if something were to try and harm her. The other raptors, however, were a different case. They weren't used to anyone but Owen yet; they barely trusted Barry and they saw him nearly every day. He'd have a time getting them to calm down around Claire and Helen.

He wriggled his way back through the duct, blinking at the sunlight that shone straight into his eyes. He could hear Claire behind him, could feel her pinching his ankles playfully. Owen snickered at her, gripping the edges of the duct and pulling himself out. He slid headfirst onto the ground, narrowly missing squishing Josie, who was sound asleep right underneath the duct. Owen was pleased to see that nothing appeared to have changed while he was gone; all five raptors were still here, still healthy and ready to fight.

He turned around and pulled Claire out next, catching her and holding her for a second longer than necessary, just to remind himself that she was safe. Helen came next, looking at the trees around her excitedly, smelling the air and feeling the sunshine. Owen didn't know how long she'd been trapped in there, but it was obvious that she hadn't been outside in a while.

Owen spoke to Blue first, pointing to Helen, saying that she was good. Blue sniffed curiously in Helen's direction, narrowing her yellow eyes at her. Owen then turned to April, who was hissing and glaring at both Helen and Claire, her claws tapping impatiently on the soft ground beneath her. Owen calmed her down with a few gentle words, telling her she knew Claire and that Helen wasn't an enemy. Reluctantly, April let her guard down, glaring at Owen like he ruined all her fun. Lex and Lucy were easy to talk to; each of them obeyed without question, trusting Owen completely. Josie couldn't have attacked anyone even if she wanted to, but Owen made sure she knew who to fight and who to protect anyways, just in case.

He gave Claire her jacket back when he saw her cross her arms the way she always did when she was cold. They set off, Lex on constant alert for Alpha and Blue leading the way back to the beach, Owen monitoring the progress from the back with Josie in his arms.

…

"They're out, Boss," said Wayne, his voice clogged with static through the radio. "You were right. That guy did come to get Claire, just like you said he would."

"I _know_ ," said Boss, rolling his eyes. "That's exactly what Wu said would happen; that's why we only took her in the first place.

"Right," said Wayne. "You're right. I just didn't want to say Wu's name 'cause you told me not to."

"So don't say his name. What about Helen?" said Boss, yelling over the sound of the waves against the motorboat. The ocean sounded –and felt- rough today, rougher than it had been for a long time. Boss guessed a storm was coming. He made a mental note to ask Adam if clouds were in the sky; a storm would make the hunt so much better, so much more of a test run. If the animals on Isla Sorna could hunt in a rainstorm, then they would be twice as effective under desirable conditions.

"She's gone too, Boss. But I think she's got bigger things on her mind than telling everyone you're b-"

" _Shut up_!" said Boss, twisting his head nervously. "Don't say it out loud. Never say it ever; we don't know who is listening.

"Yes, Boss. You're right. I'm sorry."

Boss sighed. "Just keep an eye on everything, okay? I've got a break-in to plan and I can't make any mistakes. Keep me updated on the hunt."

"Oh, they're being stalked," said Wayne. Boss assumed he was monitoring the camera feed; Adam had installed cameras on nearly every tree on Isla Sorna; nothing happened on the island without them knowing about it. "They've got three or four dinosaurs after them already.

"Good," said Boss. "This'll be good."

 _AN: Thanks to MagicLover13 for inspiring me to make Blue protective of Claire! That's totally your idea so thank you thank you thank you!_

 _Review!_


	11. Safe

_AN: Sorry about yesterday and no update! I didn't have a chance to write much the other day, but here we are with chapter eleven and rest assured, I will try my hardest to have another chapter up tomorrow! If I can't, then look for one on Monday, because I'll keep updating as soon as I can._

It was a funny thing, being hunted. Claire felt oddly tense; the hairs on the back of her neck were standing straight up as a warning, but the only thing they could do was keep running. She could see the dinosaurs following them, flitting through the trees, randomly gnashing their teeth at Owen or Blue. They didn't seem to care about the younger raptors or Claire and Helen; Owen and Blue were the leaders, and it was obvious their hunters wanted to get them out of the way first.

"We've got to get off the island," said Helen, who was extremely out of breath. Claire wondered how long it had been since she'd exercised in some way other than walking around the room she'd been trapped in for a year and a half. The run didn't seem to be bothering her; she was looking around at the world with fresh eyes, like she couldn't get enough of what she was seeing.

"I've got a boat," said Owen, twisting the hand that wasn't holding Josie into Claire's. "Unless they moved it. I didn't bother hiding it; I figured nobody would come looking."

"Depends on which shore you anchored it on," said Helen, leaping over a fallen tree. Blue screeched ahead of them; a warning. Claire glanced nervously at Owen, who tightened his hand around hers. "They've got a dock on a side of the island, but I don't know which."

"Me neither," Owen grunted, wiping his forehead clean of sweat.

Claire grinned at Owen, not caring that they were being hunted, not caring that Boss was headed to Isla Nublar to steal embryos, not caring that they could be trapped on Isla Sorna: Owen was still her same Owen, and she was still Claire, and they had a way of getting out of life-threatening situations.

"We can't hide," said Owen. "They'd only corner us if we did."

"So we keep running," said Claire. "We've outrun worse before." A sharp, vivid memory of crunching heels and a roaring T-Rex came to Claire's mind. Yes, she had certainly faced worse before.

"This raptor has been after us for days," said Owen. "She won't give up easily."

"Pack advantage," said Claire. "It's four to one, not including Josie and us; we could take down a single velociraptor."

"There's more than just the one," said Owen. "But you are right; this isn't a pack hunting us; its random animals who've smelled us. We've got an advantage."

"The ease at which you two talk about this amazes me," muttered Helen.

"You sound like Lowery," said Claire, smiling slightly when she imagined what Lowery would say if he had been with them. Owen had told her how Lowery helped him, how he was on lookout at Isla Nublar.

"Who?" Helen asked.

Claire explained while Owen seemed to be forming a plan, trying to figure out a smart way to face the animals hunting them. They couldn't run forever, particularly against hunting raptors. Human legs didn't move as fast as dinosaur legs.

"Stop," said Owen sharply, throwing out a protective arm in front of Claire. She slammed into it but didn't fall, just managing to keep her feet steady on the ground. Blue froze too, the pack following suit. Owen set Josie down on the leafy undergrowth, where she glared at everyone with fierce yellow eyes.

"What are you doing?" asked Helen, looking rapidly from Owen to Claire.

Owen pressed a finger to his lips and nodded to Blue, who seemed to understand what Owen wanted without him needing to tell her. Claire marveled at how their relationship had grown; a year ago, Owen was just beginning to get through to her. Now, Blue was a trusted friend, an ally in this jungle.

"Go on," whispered Owen, nodding at Blue, who forward towards the beach, towards their escape. "Lucy, you too. Scout out a route. Lex and April, I want you two to stay right here with us."

"What's happening?" asked Claire quietly, watching the exchange between Owen and his raptors. April didn't look happy to be staying behind; she was pacing angrily, hissing under her breath. Lex was simply standing still, her head held high in the air, twitching slightly. Trying to catch a scent.

"I don't know where they are," said Owen. "I could see them, following us-"  
"They're gone?" interrupted Claire, twisting her head around to try and catch a glimpse of scales flashing through the trees.

"Not gone," said Owen. "Waiting."

"For what?"

"Us, I guess. These animals are smart. Maybe they outnumber us, but we could kill them all because we work together. One of them has already faced us; she won't make the same mistakes again."

A screech echoed through the woods; Claire guessed it was Blue. Lex and April turned to Owen, who nodded his permission for them to go to Blue; the way must've been clear. He picked up Josie and gestured for Claire and Helen to follow him, trekking through the woods after Lex and April. Claire could see Lex hanging back to keep an eye on them, watching for any enemies.

"I don't like this," said Helen nervously, staring into the trees.

Claire shook off the feeling of dread that was starting to build in her stomach. Isla Sorna was a strange place; she couldn't wait to get back to Isla Nublar, back home. Of course, she'd still have to track down Boss and prevent him from stealing any embryos, but that would be a piece of cake compared to this.

The soil under Claire's feet started turning to loose sand; her feet sank into it with every step she took. "We're getting close!" she said, listening for the sound of the ocean ahead of her.

Claire glanced to her right and discovered that, apparently, more dinosaurs other than the Indominus Rex could camouflage.

…

She felt Owen push her down, heard Lex turn to help fight the offender, but heard a gunshot sound before Lex could reach them. A body fell softly to the ground and Claire rolled away from it, away from the small dilophosaurus that could paralyze her with one squirt of its venom.

Owen pulled her up into a one-armed hug, his face pale. Claire took a few shaky breaths to calm herself down and murmured her thanks in Owen's ear before picking up his gun where he had dropped it after shooting the dilophosaurus.

"Keep going," said Claire, walking forward on unsteady feet. Owen pressed a hand to her back, holding her upright, helping her walk because she wasn't sure her feet worked anymore. Had the dilophosaurus evolved the camouflage over the years, or had Wu added mixes to its DNA to force the ability, like he had the Indominus Rex? How many other animals were surrounding them, waiting for the opportune moment to attack?

But the camouflage wouldn't benefit them for long; Claire could see the ocean through the trees; Owen's boat was still there, waiting on them to drive it back to Isla Nublar.

They tripped over the sand, all of them so exhausted and tense that they could barely make it across the beach. The raptors were waiting on them, standing together, facing the woods in a silent gesture of protection.

Owen rushed them onto the boat, keeping a wary eye on the woods, knowing that they could be ambushed at any time. Claire knew he was looking for Alpha, the enemy velociraptor that had been hunting him for days. Claire thought it was strange that the raptor hadn't shown its face yet; she had never known a dinosaur to give up its hunt before.

But for now, they were safe, and they were together. And that's all that mattered.

 _AN: Again, so sorry about the wait. And I'm also sorry about the weirdness of this chapter; I'm so not satisfied with it at all, but I wanted to get it uploaded. Anyways, I'll have some more out in a while! Give me a couple days!_


	12. Storm

_AN: Outlast chapter 12! Lowery's POV in this one and I'm very happy about it. Read on!_

Lowery was waiting. He had been monitoring the whole park, keeping his eye on everything for the past few days, knowing that something bad was bound to happen during Claire and Owen's absence; Claire's captor had taken her for a reason, after all.

But so far, so good, and Lowery was starting to relax for a bit; maybe he would take a break and grab a sandwich from that place in the main pavilion; he liked sandwiches well enough. Especially that one –what was it called? The Tyrannosaurus Sandrex? Yeah. Lowery needed a Tyrannosaurus Sandrex.

He had _just_ gotten up to head over for lunch, telling Vivian that he would be back in a minute, when he got the static-filled call over the radio.

"Lowery! We need your help!"

Lowery would have been a bit upset about the call because he really was hungry, but it was Claire's voice speaking to him and he was so relieved to know that she was okay that he didn't mind forgetting about his lunch for a bit. "Claire? Where are you? What happened? Where's Owen?"

"I'm here," said Owen. Lowery could hear a loud rumbling noise in the background: the sound of the boat's motor.

"And I'm fine," said Claire, her tone brisk and businesslike, just as if she was in a staff meeting at work. "Lock down the lab. Nobody goes in, nobody comes out."

Lowery spoke the order into the little earpiece microphone he was required to wear, glancing at the security feed projected on the large screen in the control room. He couldn't see anything out of place; nothing seemed to be disturbed anywhere in the park.

"Keep this quiet," said Claire. "Tell the lab technicians that we've had a security breach but not to worry; we'll be there in a while to help. Just keep everything secure until we get there."

"You got it," said Lowery. "And you owe me the escape story once you get here."

"Of course," said Claire, and Lowery could hear the smile in her voice. She sounded healthy and whole, not like she'd been held hostage for several days. The thought made Lowery grin; Claire wasn't an easy flame to quench. "See you in a few."

"Yeah," said Lowery, thinking wistfully of his sandwich as he headed down to the lab.

…

Alpha had let them get away. Owen was sure of it. Velociraptors operated on their own agenda; rarely did they do what humans expected them to do. Owen was spoiled by his raptors, especially by Blue; he was usually able to predict their every move, and Alpha was entirely new to him, and Owen had a feeling he hadn't seen the end of that particular dinosaur. It was just a matter of time before another fight, and this time, Owen would be ready for it.

First, however, he had a wife to love, a lab to protect, and an injured raptor to tend to. Alpha was the least of Owen's worries.

Right now, all Owen cared about was getting Claire back to Isla Nublar safely. She'd been kidnapped, questioned, chased all over Isla Sorna, and now she was standing at the bow of their small boat, fists clenched anxiously around the railing. Helen was at the stern, staring blankly at Isla Sorna like she couldn't quite comprehend what was happening to her. Owen made a mental note to talk to her before they got to Isla Nublar; she obviously needed help.

Owen caught Claire's eye and motioned for her to stand beside him at the controls; he eyed her abdomen as she walked over, knowing it was too early for her to have a bump but looking anyway. She looked exhausted. Beautiful, of course, but Owen could tell how tired she was by the dark circles under her eyes, by the way she stumbled across the deck. She collapsed in the chair beside his, resting her head on his hand.

"Remember when it was simple?" she asked, her lips moving softly against his skin. Owen felt a strange shiver run through his body at her touch, like he'd never felt her before. "When it was you and me and Lowery, fighting against robots and a couple crazy people?"

Owen laughed quietly, thinking back to a year ago, how tentative his relationship had been with Claire, how they were just beginning to discover each other. There had only been one enemy then: InGen. Sure, Patrick Hunt had wielded the knives and Bridgette had helped, and of course Dr. Wu had been his normal slimy scientific self, but they could _see_ their opponent. "It's like fighting dust," Owen agreed, pulling Claire into his lap. Maybe his chair was a bit too small for both of them, and maybe they were squishing the controls, but Owen didn't care. "We don't have any _names_. Boss, Alpha, underground InGen, and then what? We don't have any files this time."

"It's all speculation," murmured Claire, who curled her body into his, readjusting herself against him so they were more comfortable. "We can only chase and hope for the best."

"At least we're doing the chasing this time," said Owen, his thoughts flashing back to Alpha. He really hated not being able to see his enemies; Owen was a straightforward person. He didn't like shadows and secrets.

Claire yawned her agreement; Owen could feel her breath slowing, could tell she was slipping into the sleep that she needed so badly. He pressed his lips to her forehead, not caring that she was covered in sweat and grime and who-knew-what-else.

A blind guy was about to try and steal embryos from their lab. Owen didn't know why; Isla Sorna was a breeding ground of its own. Nobody knew what lived there, what dinosaurs still roamed about its forest. What did Boss need with Jurassic World's embryos? Hoskins _had_ tried to take them, back when InGen had taken over the place when the Indominus Rex had gotten out, but that plan had failed when he'd been eaten.

So what did the remaining members of InGen want with the embryos now? And why did InGen always seem to want to steal things that didn't belong to them? Even when the park had just been speculation, when John Hammond had just been working on the place, his son Dennis had tried to make off with a few eggs that were better off in their freezing chambers.

Claire murmured something in her sleep, startling Owen out of his thoughts. He leaned his head down onto hers, holding her tightly as the boat bounced over the waves; the ocean was rough and the skies were dark. A storm was coming.

"Do you think they're going to try and release all the dinosaurs?"

The question came from somewhere behind Owen, a voice he'd only heard once or twice: Helen. Owen could see her in the corner of his eye; he didn't want to turn around, lest he wake Claire up.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully, glancing up at the sky to see a bolt of lightning jet across the clouds. Owen told Helen about Lowery, locking down the lab and keeping a close eye on all the employees; if anything was out of place, they would get a call.

Helen nodded, blinking slowly. She looked even more exhausted than Claire; Owen knew she couldn't have walked more than the expanse of that room where she'd been held for years; the physical effort of running halfway across Isla Sorna must've sapped all her energy, taken all her strength away. "I'm not letting any of them get away," she whispered, her voice quivering with anger. "I'm going to beat them."

" _We're_ going to beat them," corrected Owen, reminding Helen that she wasn't alone for the first time in several months. "We're going to help you."

Helen's eyes shone with gratitude as she stared out at the distant form of Isla Nublar, its shores becoming more defined every second. Thunder boomed so loudly that the boat shook a little; Claire shifted in Owen's arms, twisting her head around, unconsciously trying to hide from the noise.

Owen took a deep breath, hoping that he was right in telling Helen that they would beat Boss, because she was right. They weren't getting away.

…

The storm was pure luck. It caused mass chaos across the park; Boss knew every available employee would be focused on helping the guests find shelter to wait out the storm, and every single guard would be preoccupied with making sure no dinosaurs got out of their cages; sometimes the storm interfered with the perimeter fences' electricity.

Boss thanked his stars that he used to be a Jurassic World employee; he knew this place like the back of his hand. Blind or not, he could get where he wanted without having to try; Adam was by his side simply for security reasons. He knew that his presence was known; people would be looking for him, waiting for him.

But it was hard to hunt for an invisible man.

Because that's what Boss was: invisible. Wu had seen to that, hiding him away on Isla Sorna for years while the former had developed Project K (which, of course, had been Boss's idea in the first place), and then he'd had the nerve to ask Patrick Hunt to take over the entire Project; Wu had wanted Hunt to run Jurassic World once InGen took it over, and Boss wasn't happy about that, even if he had liked Hunt well enough to make him second-in-command. Although, after a while, Hunt had gotten too power hungry; Boss had wanted him out of the way when it became clear Project K was going to fail.

So, in a way, Boss owed his job to Claire and Owen. They had shut down InGen and exposed Project K, and of course Hunt was dead, and now Boss was free to do what he'd wanted to in the first place, before Wu had gotten over-involved with Project K. It was Boss's turn to run the park, Boss's turn to make people fear him, run from him, obey him.

And it started with the embryos.

"Lab's in shutdown," said Adam, who must've been fiddling with his little tablet that had full access to Jurassic World's computer system. Another perk of being a former employee: the security system still accepted Boss's username. Just don't make any changes to anything online, and no alerts would be sent out; he was virtually undetectable. "We can't get in."

"Oh, I can get in," Boss assured Adam, fingering his old ID badge. "I have access to anything in this park."

"Not right now," said Adam, his frustration evident in his tone. "All tours of the labs are canceled for today, all personnel are forbidden from leaving until further notice, and nobody is allowed in, no matter what level of clearance they are."

"Ah," said Boss, smiling towards the direction of Adam's voice. "That's where this storm comes into play. Ever cut a high voltage wire before?"

 _AN: And so the ball is rolling. Sorry this took so long; I have been quite busy as of late! More to come, but it may be a few days. I love all of you!_


	13. Rain

_AN: Looooong wait for this one, and I am so terribly sorry about it! I moved into UNC-Chapel Hill last Saturday and classes started two days ago, so as you can imagine, the past week has been an absolute whirlwind. But here we have Outlast chapter 13, and I should have another one-shot uploaded to Breathe sometime in the next few days. Also, I'm working on a Guardians of the Galaxy one-shot that I maaaaay get up before Breathe. I don't know. But here you go!_

The storm was here, and Claire was ready for it. The last remains of InGen were trying to break into the lab in the middle of a lightning storm? Bring it on. Park guests were panicking at the sudden downpour and running for shelter? No problem. Dinosaurs were going wild at the change in the weather? Easily dealt with. Claire had been through worse, fought her way through dinosaurs thirty times as big as she, and she was still alive to keep fighting.

And Lowery was doing an excellent job of keeping the lab technicians unsuspecting while Owen was on border patrol, scanning the fences and the outskirts of Jurassic World while he dragged his raptors back to their containment unit. It was a tedious job, dangerous; Owen would have to stick to the rough edges of the island to get his raptors back without causing a massive uproar amongst park guests. Claire wasn't exactly keen on letting them on the island in the middle of the day, but the storm had driven most park guests to the middle of the island, so the chance of accidental death-by-raptor was lessened somewhat.

Claire felt wide-awake; adrenaline was rushing through her body as she led Helen through the park towards the lab, nodding awkward greetings to her coworkers as she went. Claire knew they were shocked at her disheveled appearance, but she found herself ignoring the questioning stares.

Claire could just see the smooth glass of the lab's windows through the rain; her hair was plastered to her face and her clothes were soaked through. Helen trailed along behind Claire, exhausted from exertion.

"The girls are locked up," said Owen, speaking through the spare walkie-talkie Lowery had thrown on the boat several days ago. "I'm scouting out the rest of the island before heading your way. Anyone in particular I should be looking out for?"

Claire threw the walkie-talkie to Helen, figuring the latter could describe Boss and Adam better than she could.

Helen seemed to shrink somewhat, holding the radio in such a large storm, rain swirling around her from the wind. "Adam's tall. Dark-headed. Speaks in a know-it-all sort of tone all the time. You can see his face and know that you shouldn't trust him" She spoke in a quiet whisper of a voice that Claire wasn't surprised to hear; Helen seemed in desperate need of some rest.

"And Boss?" said Owen, sounding as determined as ever.

"I don't know," said Helen. "He always kept me in the dark."

"Thanks," said Owen. Helen threw the radio back to Claire, shaking the water out of her eyes. "Claire?"

"Yes?" Claire said, pushing open the large wooden doors that led into the most iconic building in all of Jurassic World. It was packed with people, all of whom were soaked and squeezing water out of their clothes. Claire almost cringed when she thought of the mess on the floor; the cleaning staff would not be happy tonight, that was for sure.

"Be careful, okay? Don't let them get their hands on you again."

Claire smiled, pressing the radio to her cheek like it was Owen instead of a piece of plastic. "I will. Don't you go getting yourself hurt. I don't want to have to fix you again."

Claire heard Owen's grin, even if she couldn't see it. "Love you."

"Love you too."

…

Something about working in the rain made Boss so much _lighter_ , more springy, if you will. It was exhilarating, knowing that everybody else was just as blind as he in this storm. It gave him an advantage; nobody else was used to having their vision taken away, where as he lived with it on a daily basis. As long as this storm lasted, Boss wasn't the disabled one. Everybody else was, trying to peer through sheets upon sheets of rain.

Adam, however, did not seem to be enjoying the storm. He kept slipping on the mud as they made their way towards the old emergency exit to the lab, the one that hadn't been put on an employee map in years. "There's more than one way to skin a cat"; that was InGen's motto. Dennis Nedry had failed years ago to get them embryos, InGen's robots had failed as a way to have docile but dangerous weapon-dinosaurs, so now they were forced to go back to the old way of doing things. Stealing, lies, deception, and an old-fashioned, half collapsed, tunnel.

And of course, the obvious danger of electrocution. Boss couldn't see them, but he remembered well the thick cords that ran the length of this tunnel, forgotten but not unimportant. He knew exactly where they were fastened to the wall, knew that they provided most of the park's electricity. The main switches for these wires weren't down here; they were in a more central location, but with the right set of tools, Boss could make Jurassic World go dark.

And then there would _really_ be pandemonium. Nobody would notice if a few embryos were missing if the entire park was pitch-black in the middle of a thunderstorm. Not to mention letting loose most of the dinosaurs on the island.

"Here," said Adam, taking Boss's hand and placing it on a smooth steel handle. The water was pooling around them; Boss guessed that the door was completely covered by runoff.

Boss tugged, hoping that Jurassic World's maintenance team had forgotten about this old tunnel after they had combined the electric fence cables with the water lines several years ago, when a dinosaur amusement park had been a distant dream, a goal to strive for after John Hammond's disaster the first time around. If maintenance had kept up with the tunnel, it would be locked with security so advanced it would take him days to break through.

He was in luck; the door came open easily, sounding a loud creak that was drowned out by a loud crack of thunder.

Boss smiled. "Lights out, Jurassic World."

…

Owen knew Jurassic World. He knew the trails, knew the paths that had been abandoned since John Hammond's grandkids and those paleontologists had nearly been killed on Isla Nublar. So he walked them, peeling off the shirt that had glued itself to his skin. No point in wearing that thing when it was ruined anyway; drenched in water, ripped from Alpha's claws, and covered in mud. He had picked up a spare from his office anyways, though Owen wasn't sure what good a thin piece of material would do in this storm.

Boss couldn't get into the lab in front of everyone, not when Claire and Lowery had locked the place down. The security was so advanced that Owen wasn't sure _anyone_ could get in or out besides Claire herself, and that was only because the security system recognized her DNA as the unlock code.

So Owen had put himself on border patrol. He figured Boss was the inventive type; when one thing didn't work, he had a back-up plan up his sleeve, and his back-up plan could easily be breaking into the lab from the less-secure underground. That was obviously how he'd worked his way up to the top at InGen; nobody else at that company seemed to think of anything but basic needs. Boss had surrounded himself with childlike employees, securing his place at the top.

He really was smart. Owen had to hand it to him, working around a disability as well as he did.

 _I wish Blue was with me_ , Owen thought as he sloshed through the mud, gripping a tree so he wouldn't slip. He had gotten so used to having her with him, having some sort of companionship on adventures like this, that her company was sorely missed. Plus, Boss had a lackey with him, and Owen wasn't sure he could take two guys at once.

But Owen was determined to get to Boss before Boss got to Claire. He wasn't going to let Boss get his hands on her, his pregnant wife, again. Owen knew that Boss had a plan, a plan that ran deeper than stealing embryos from Jurassic World. They already had dinosaurs on Isla Sorna; wild, untamed assets that would work wonderfully in a war, if that was still InGen's goal.

The embryos made no sense. InGen was trying to achieve a goal that Owen simply couldn't understand, couldn't put the pieces together to form a complete picture.

"It's a bit like walking through this rain," he muttered, squinting through the dense fog. "I don't know what I'm looking for and I don't know how to find it."

Owen _did_ have a vague idea of where he was going; he was following the old maintenance lines from years and years ago, knowing that they ran the length of the island. The power cables got thicker as he went along; the electric fences were strongest on the edge of the island in case the pterosaurs were to get out again. It was a security upgrade that finances had not been happy about, but one that was necessary after having to track down the flying dinosaurs last year after the aviary had been blown up. There was a tunnel somewhere around here, used years ago by Hammond as a way to get across the island after the T-Rex had broken out, before it could be contained. Convert an unused maintenance tunnel into a small passageway and just like that, a safe mode of travel is formed.

 _And Boss is no stranger to tunnels_ , thought Owen, remembering Helen's tale of the tunnel that ran the length of Isla Sorna that Boss used to hide from the velociraptors and other wild dinosaurs. _He works in shadows, forms plans where nobody can see him, where nobody can stop him._

Owen stepped through a puddle, the water coming up to nearly his ankles. The ground was beginning to soften, the dirt turning to mud as dark as April's scales. The electric cables blended with the water lines beyond the puddle, burying deep into the ground so that Owen could no longer see them.

Owen's foot caught on something and he nearly tripped, regaining his balance just before he fell over. He dug through the leaves and mud that lay at the bottom of the water, blinking water and sweat out of his eyes. Finally he found what he'd nearly tripped over: a handle, cold and metal.

Owen looked up, scanning the forest around him as best he could. A bolt of lightning struck in the distance, momentarily illuminating the trees.

"Owen?" said Claire, her voice sounding very small and scared over the walkie-talkie.

"I found something," he said, tugging at the handle. The lid popped off easily, water pouring off the old metal, flooding Owen's already-ruined boots. "I don't know what, but it's something."

"Good," said Claire. "Because it's dark here. Power's out, security is out, back-up generator is out. They have full access to the lab."

 _AN: Sorry to end on a cliffhanger! But no worries, I will try my absolute hardest to get this updated before Monday. Hopefully I'll have a couple new one-shots for you as well! See you soon._

 _Review!_


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